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U.S. DOT FY 2023 Phase I Pre-Solicitation Q&A


* * * 2/3/23 Update: The Pre-solicitation is now closed. Topic questions are no longer being accepted. * * *

This U.S. DOT Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Pre-solicitation Q&A Forum provides small businesses an opportunity to submit clarifying questions on the topics published in the U.S. DOT Fiscal Year (FY) 2023 Phase I Pre-Solicitation. Questions will be answered by the Technical Experts/Topic Authors at the U.S.DOT Operating Administrations during this period. Questions shall be limited to improving the understanding of a particular topic's requirements and should not share proposal ideas nor proprietary information.


The U.S. DOT’s FY 2023 Pre-Solicitation period is January 4, 2023, through February 3, 2023, at 5:00 pm Eastern Time (ET). Only questions posted within this period will be responded to.

How to Use the SBIR Pre-solicitation Q&A Forum:

Register: Anyone can view questions but registration is required if you wish to post a question and receive a notification when it is responded to.
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Search: Browse the existing questions by category to find the topic you are interested in and to see if your question has already been addressed. If you see a question you are also interested in, you can add a vote to the question, or leave a comment.

Post: If your question has not already been posted, use the “Enter your idea” box at the top of the page to enter your question.
  1. Select the research topic your question is related to from the drop-down menu that appears when you begin typing.
  2. You may add more detail in the Description box(optional). Do NOT attach any files. The U.S. DOT shall not consider any submitted materials other than questions.
  3. Enter your e-mail address and password.
  4. When finished, select “Post idea.” If you registered, you will be able to track responses to your post. Please include only one question or comment per post to help us keep the forum organized.
Please note, all comments will be public information. Potential offerors shall not include in the question(s) or comment(s) any information that they do not wish to be made public. Telephone inquiries or meeting requests will not be addressed and may be removed. The U.S. DOT shall not respond to requests for advice or guidance on any offeror’s solution to any SBIR topic, and shall not consider any submitted materials other than questions.

Thanks for joining our SBIR Pre-solicitation Q&A Forum.

If you experience technical difficulties, please contact us at DOTSBIR@dot.gov.

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3 results found

  1. Detection Requirement Clarification

    Can some please clarify this requirement: " Inspection of external tie features include" ... "section depth (detection of the effects of tie abrasion in the ballast)"

    It is not clear to me how section depth and effects of abrasion in ballast are related.

    1 vote

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    3 comments  ·  Topic 23-FR1: Concrete Crosstie Inspection Technology  ·  Admin →

  2. Mechanisms for assessing internal conditions

    The reference material does not seem to comprehensively describe methods of assessing the internal conditions of concrete ties. Would it be sufficient to identify internal issues based on visible symptoms, such as splitting and bursting? Would a second, comprehensive step of evaluation of potential issues as identified in a broad, at-speed test be considered for this topic?

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    2 comments  ·  Topic 23-FR1: Concrete Crosstie Inspection Technology  ·  Admin →

  3. How much wear do they typically see underneath the pads on top of the sleeper?

    1 vote

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    1 comment  ·  Topic 23-FR1: Concrete Crosstie Inspection Technology  ·  Admin →

U.S. DOT FY 2023 Phase I Pre-Solicitation Q&A

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