Caltrans Sacramento River BOH Replacement and Dunsmuir Gap CMGC

Mission Critical was pleased to work once again with Walsh-Myers, a Joint Venture; a solid team comprised of two expert firms that are both clients of ours. This JV of Walsh Construction Company II and Myers & Sons Construction was awarded the $135M Sacramento River Bridge Overhead Deck Replacement and Dunsmuir Gap CMGC by Caltrans District 2 after an incredible showing in both the Statement of Qualifications and the virtual interview in this two-stage procurement.

This bridge replacement and roadway rehabilitation project located in Siskiyou County, CA drew a highly competitive selection of firms that had strong reputations and local presence. Any one of them would have been capable of completing the project, so the question of the project approach shifted slightly. Through intensive focus groups with the Walsh-Myers teams and several late nights brainstorming through the approach section of the proposal, Mission Critical developed a thorough technical narrative that not only relayed the team's capability, but clearly presented their best-practice strategies, the tools to achieve them, and the qualifications of the personnel that would be putting them into action for the District. In doing so, the proposal illustrated to Caltrans why Walsh-Myers was more than just a qualified and capable contractor-we demonstrated their ability and experience as a CMGC partner.

On notice of shortlist, we began an intensive process of Interview Coaching including study lists, presentation materials and outlines, and delivery coaching. As this pursuit was unfolding amid the travel and social distancing restrictions set in place due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the official Interview was conducted remotely through a virtual conferencing platform. This was a new system for the procurement process that no one on either team had used in this context, but our agility and longstanding use of these technologies allowed us to coach the entire geographically dispersed interviewing team through a virtual, non-video interview presentation and Q&A session.

"Knowing the competitive Caltrans CMGC market, the Walsh-Myers JV selected Mission Critical to capture our experience and strength and bring our technical innovations to reality. They then did a fantastic job in preparing our Team to perform successfully in a new and challenging 'audio only' interview format to win this $135M District 2 project."   - David Cramer, Senior Project Manager, Walsh Construction Company II

This pursuit provided some unique obstacles that we overcame to provide the Walsh-Myers JV with a winning Statement of Qualifications and the tools to succeed in the non-traditional Interview. We wish them the best of luck on their Sacramento River BOH Deck Replacement and Dunsmuir Gap Project, with their Preconstruction Contract slated to begin on May 18, 2020 and Construction in August 2022.