NJDOT opens bids at 10 a.m. on October 29 on DP No. 27436, the “Maintenance Timber and Underwater Structural Repair Contract, South - 2027,” covering various locations in Atlantic, Burlington, Camden, Cape May, Cumberland, Gloucester and Salem counties. It's 100 percent state funded, the estimated range is $2,500,001 to $5,000,000, and the completion date is one year from the notice to proceed. It's a letting, which means a bid opening. It isn't a prequalification window.

Here's what makes it different. The principal items aren't tons or cubic yards. They're time: 3,000 hours of timber labor crew and 1,800 hours of diving labor crew, plus a force-account adjustment-factor line carried at a quantity of 966,000. Force account means work paid on actual cost plus an agreed markup instead of a unit price. So you're pricing crews by the hour for repairs at locations spread over seven counties, not a fixed scope. Your crew rates are where this bid gets won or lost.

Who can prime: firms NJDOT has prequalified in work type 4, 4B or 5, which the class code key lists as Bridge, Bridge Repair and Heavy Highway. Here's the catch for dive shops. NJDOT's key carries its own “9O Diving” specialty, but it's not on this job's eligible list. A dive outfit primes only if it also holds 4, 4B or 5. Prequalification itself is a separate application on NJDOT's Form DC-74A.

For everyone else, there's the sub route. NJDOT says a firm “does not have to be prequalified to do NJDOT subcontract work” except where the specs say otherwise, and this contract carries a 4 percent SBE goal, with goal forms due with the bid or within 5 days after the opening. A certified diving or timber sub is exactly what a bridge prime needs to fill that number.

The rest of the entry fee: bid only through Bid Express, which charges fees, and be registered with New Jersey's Division of Wage and Hour Compliance at the time of bid. Upload before 10 a.m. on October 29.

On the record: Maintenance Timber and Underwater Structural Repair Contract, South - 2027, Various Locations, Atlantic, Burlington, Camden, Cape May, Cumberland, Gloucester and Salem Counties, issued by New Jersey Department of Transportation. Solicitation DP27436. Bids are due October 29, 2026 (Letting (bid opening) scheduled for 10/29/26.). The listing on NJDOT: https://dot.nj.gov/transportation/contribute/business/procurement/ConstrServ/documents/NoticetoContractor_DP27436.pdf. Full record on The RFI Wire's board: https://therfiwire.com/rfi/RFI-003121.html.