Mulching Bid Specifications

[mlsandy]

I am working with the City of Corinth, Mississippi trying to put together bidding specifications for vegetation mulching/clearing along drainage canals within the City. I am trying to pursuade the City to use mulching rather than excavator and riprap.

Would appreciate anyone in the land clearing business taking a look and giving any feedback before these are finalized. We're hoping the speed, environmental benefits and finished cost will demonstrate the benefits of this approach.

In particular, trying to write specs that are open to as many contractors as possible while setting up a way to evaluate performance vs/ specifications is somewhat hard for me to really get a good handle on.

Thanks,
Milton Sandy, Jr.

Mulching Specifications

 

[DIRTROAD]

The first item that I noticed was your incorrect usage of the three letter acronym "dbh". "DBH" stands for "Diameter @ Breast Height". This is how a tree trunk is measured to determine the diameter of the trunk.

For example: When a Forester walks up to a tree, using a diameter tape, he (or her) will place one end of the tape in each hand and wrap it around the tree with his (or her) arms spread out to each side at breast height. This will look like they are hugging the tree. The diameter tape is specially graduated so that while it is being wrapped around the circumference it is actually showing the measurement as the diameter. This (DBH) is a unit of measure specifically deignated for measuring the tree trunk.

All that being said, The language in your document refers to the dbh of overhanging limbs. An overhanging limb would simply be refered to as an overhanging limb with a diameter of.... NOT a dbh of ....

I also have noticed in the language of several documents that I have read over the years, that a lot of the time the mistake is made in that a measurement at the stump cut is referenced as dbh. This is very inacurate because for example a tree that measures a certain # of inches dbh could and would have a much larger diameter at the stump. This could very well be the case in the area that you live with the drainage canals providing the moisture for this to happen. It is especially common in cypress trees that would live in those areas.

You might want to hire an Urban Forester or an Arborist to consult with you on the matter so that all of the terminology is correct in your document. Also a glossary of terms would be needed within your document so that everyone would be on the same page as to what was meant by a certain term or word.

I hope my .02 helps you a little.

 

[mlsandy]

Thanks Dirtroad, that is exactly the kind of helpful information I was trying to obtain from others more experienced than I am. I have been experiencing flooding here locally for 40 years but have only been working trying to find a solution pretty intently the past year. During that time I have had to learn a lot of environmental, engineering and other information I never experienced before. The city has ignored maintenance of these man-made flood control channels for over 40 years and now they are really overgrown and blocking the flow of water.

The specs I am using were borrowed from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife service so I was not familiar with the terminology but just assumed they knew what they were talking about. I particularly appreciate the comment about the arborist because we hope to develop these areas into "Greenways" and would like to protect any valuable specimen trees that may be adjacent to the drainage channels.

I appreciate your .02 very much.

Milton Sandy, Jr.

 

[Robbie Hegwood]

Hey Milton. You had the best excavator mulching contractor on site with you during the demo. If at all possible he is your best bet to complete the project.

 

[mlsandy]

Robbie, I totally agree with you and would love to see him get the business. You can be sure I want to guarantee the specs to be open for him and anyone else well qualified. I'm having to work with newly elected officials and money is very short like everywhere right now. The only problem with a contractor far away is that transportation cost is so great when you get a great distance away that it may force us to use someone closer, particularly when we don't have a great deal of money to get started. We are looking everywhere for grants and may end up borrowing money to purchase equipment. First, I have to show this is the best way to go rather than the tried and true use of excavators and buckets which are plentiful here with buckets to rip out and then rip-rap.

Thanks,
Milton Sandy, Jr.

 

[mlsandy]

These are the final bid specs and requests for Bids. Anyone interested in the work should submit a bid.

Thanks,

City of Corinth, Mississippi Final Mulching Bid Specs 6/1/2011

 

[HLM]

The link does not work

 

[beppington]

The link does not work

He had a few extra characters on the end. Try again: http://issuu.com/mlsandy/docs/bpe_corinth_bidspecs_060111c

 

[mlsandy]

Thanks Beppington, sorry about that, corrected link above.

Milton Sandy, Jr.