Global engineering firm AECOM is asking Louisiana Transportation Secretary Shawn Wilson to reconsider his recent decision to award a consulting contract for advance planning on a new Mississippi River bridge near Baton Rouge to a Texas-based firm with local ties, Atlas Technical Consultants.
Wilson overrode the scoring of his own technical selection committee in awarding the contract, which ultimately could be worth $5 million, to Atlas, a firm owned by businessman Jim Bernhard’s private equity firm Bernhard Capital Partners.
Bernhard has been an advocate of developing a new bridge across the river.
“The Secretary’s selection of the Atlas team requires reevaluation and should be set aside, as it devalues and disregards the evaluation criteria set forth in the RFP and consequently calls into question the DOTD’s commitment to promote a fair and unbiased selection process on its projects,” AECOM Executive Vice President Travis Boone writes in his January 13 appeal.
Daily Report received a copy of the appeal late Wednesday in response to a records request filed two weeks ago.
In the appeal, Boone notes that AECOM scored more than 12 points higher than Atlas—74 to 61.9—in a two-tiered ranking system.
“The AECOM team scored higher than the Atlas team on 10 of the 12 of the evaluation criteria and the same on one criterion (firm size),” the appeal states. “Moreover, AECOM scored higher on every one of the Tier II criteria. In most cases, the scoring was not even close.”
A table attached to the appeal shows some of the widest point differentials came in categories that measured the two teams’ approach to the proposed project, which is still in the early planning and several years from becoming a reality.
In the category of “understand the project,” AECOM scored 8.1 points to Atlas’ 5.1 In “project approach and methodology,” AECOM scored 8 while Atlas scored 5.3 In traffic model development, AECOM scored 7.9 to Atlas’ 5.5. Only in the category of “work load” did Atlas best AECOM, receiving 4.67 points over AECOM’s 4.
In a Jan. 10 letter explaining his reasons for overriding the decision of his technical selection committee, Wilson cites AECOM’s heavy backlog with the state, suggesting Atlas would have more time to work on the bridge project.
Boone’s appeal also addresses that issue.
“On information and belief, Atlas has limited experience delivering projects of this magnitude,” the appeal says. “AECOM contends that its backlog with DOTD should not be construed negatively, rather it demonstrates that AECOM has a strong working relationship with DOTD.”
Boone also challenges Wilson’s stated reason that Atlas has more experience on complex urban projects, noting that AECOM “scored significantly higher than the Atlas team on the firm experience and staff experience criteria.”
Because the contract award is under appeal, neither company nor the DOTD is able to comment. According to state procurement law, the transportation secretary decides any appeals of awards they have made over the recommendation of the selection committee after reviewing the case and meeting with the appellant.
It is not clear when Wilson will decide the issue.
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