A Pile of News: April 2024 A briefing on news and information from the pile driving contractors, associated manufacturers, construction suppliers and affiliated engineers who comprise PDCA. By Matt Bisbee, PDCA Originally sent April 1, 2024 Top of the Pile Time is running out - The PDCA Project of the Year Awards program entry period closes FRIDAY. Submit Land, Marine, Earth Retention, Associate/Engineer, International pile driving project(s) to PDCA through e-file share, ASAP! We're glad you're here! Q1, 2024 brings new members to PDCA; help us welcome and thank the following: Contractors: AGM Marine Contractors of Mashpee, MA; Archangel Development Enterprises of Bluffton, SC; East Coast Marine Construction and Design of Daytona Beach, FL; MEB General Contractors of Chesapeake, VA Associates: Corpac Steel Products Corp. of Aventura, FL; Dark Horse Metals of Liberty Hill, TX Engineering Affiliate: COWI, worldwide Government employees: Dwarika Mallick of MTA-NYC Transit Authority; Gavin Gautreau of LA Transportation Research Center; Derek Paille of LA-DOTD Academic employee: Dr. Alejandro Martinez of UC Davis Students: Jansen Billiot from LSU; Baris Elmas of University of Missouri Government and academic employees may now join PDCA at NO COST; student membership is FREE It's almost here  IFCEE 2024 The International Foundations Congress and Equipment Expo comes to Dallas May 7 - 10. Registration is open, but rooms at The Hyatt Regency Dallas are SOLD OUT other nearby options are available. Don't miss the triennial collaboration from PDCA, ADSC, DFI and the Geo-Institute, featuring insightful programs and a huge equipment show. From the Association & Chapters Mark your calendars: April 11: Value Driven Webinar, 2 - 3 PM, free to members Greg Belpomme of Heron Wolf presents Maximizing Efficiency in Piling Projects Amidst Skills Shortage: Strategies for Success. April 18 - 20: Geoprofessional Business Assn. Annual Conference, JW Marriott Anaheim Resort. PDCA is a cooperating organization. Registration is now open. April 26: Pacific Coast Chapter Scholarship Shoot, Birds Landing, CA, 8 AM - 2 PM. Don't miss this popular annual event that includes friendly competition among industry sports shooters, enviable raffle prizes and a silent auction featuring the hunting trip of a lifetime to Argentina! May 7 - 10: IFCEE 2024, Dallas REGISTER TODAY May 10: Ceremony, 2023 Project of the Year Award winners, Hyatt Regency Dallas, 12:30 PM May 15: Northeast Chapter Top Golf Meet & Greet and New Member Outreach, 6 - 9 PM News and PHOTOS from the PDCA Blog: #MarylandStrong   Texas Chapter March Lunch & Learn in Houston featured piling presentations from Jody Singletary of Dunham Price (PSC) and Gerry McShane of Service Steel Warehouse (steel).   South Carolina Chapter Tech Seminar: Dr. John Ryan, David Borger, Michael Wysockey, Mohamad Hussein and Matt Caskey provided industry insights.   Gulf Coast Chapter held a crawfish boil before its day-long, biennial Engineers Conference. PDCA member engineers Terry Holman, Oliver Taylor, Brandon Phetteplace and Jerry Outlaw presented.   Northeast Chapter Professional Development Course gave attendees informative industry content from presenters Silas Nichols of FHWA, Alex Ryberg of GRL Engineers and professionals from Nucor Skyline. A meet & greet from Clydesdale Steel followed the program.   DFDTA spring 2024 session draws nearly 40 students to Orlando the collaboration between Pile Dynamics, Inc. and PDCA gives instruction on deep foundation integrity testing and wave equation analysis. Watch for announcements about the fall 2024 session in Cleveland.   GeoCongress 2024 brought PDCA members to Vancouver for annual Geo-Institute event. Congratulations, Interpipe Canada, you are this month's winner! Send an email to marian@piledrivers.org before the end of the month to claim your prize! News from PDCA Companies Giving back: Bechtel pledges $7M to the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, an initiative to provide programs and resources to more than 500K U.S. construction workers over five years.   C.J. Mahan Construction Co. voluntarily engaged with welding and fabrication students at a Northern Kentucky tech school and explained how those skills transfer to the piling industry, an important demonstration of growing the future workforce.   Mason Construction employees band together to help a colleague's daughter who contracted a rare, debilitating nerve disorder that has bound the former student athlete to a wheelchair. Consider joining Mason in helping the family mitigate this daunting challenge.   Scott Bridge Company Inc. visited nearby Opelika (AL) City Schools to introduce local fifth graders to the trades, a means of engaging students into considering construction careers. (pictured) Aggregate Technologies, Inc. sponsors The Water Cycle, a campaign of the Auburn University Chapter of Engineers Without Borders that will bring water solutions to developing countries.   Atlas Tube donates steel tubing to Mobility Worldwide, a charity that builds mobility carts for people in need. Steel is used in the frame and brake handles, giving a user the gift of movement.   Bottom Line Equipment introduces the American Hero program in which it donates 25% of rental revenue on certain heavy machinery and attachments to military and first responders.   Lodge Lumber Co. commends its employees who spent a Saturday morning supporting a charitable initiative in Houston that provides beds to children who need them.   Geo-Technology Associates, Inc. applauds its staff members in Somerset, NJ, who volunteered at the Franklin Food Bank to help with stocking and cleaning at the facility. Recognitions: Arthur R. Henry Inc. assembled staff for its annual safety kick-off meeting, where they heard updates on trenching and shoring, proper tooling, DOT regulations, TRIR review and more.   Cianbro celebrates its craft professionals who brought home hardware from the National Craft Championships in Florida, an annual program from ABC that promotes craftsmanship.   Richard E. Pierson Construction Co., Inc. completed two projects that won the New Jersey builder awards at the Alliance for Action ceremony: the RT 70 Project and the Rumson project.   Thomas & Hutton designed the Noisette Creek Pedestrian Bridge in Charleston, SC, a celebrated driven pile project and PDCA Project of the Year Award winner for Cape Romain Contractors. T&H won an ACEC award for the bridge and acknowledges Terracon for its involvement. Acquisitions & expansions: Cajun Industries, LLC expects construction of a 20K sq. ft. expansion at its equipment services facility in Port Allen, LA, to be completed this summer.   Kiewit grows its Lenexa, KS, campus with a new six-story, 177K sq. ft. building. It also gets a new common space, solar panels on the four buildings and EV chargers in the garages. Government relations: McCarthy Building Cos. expanded the Phoenix-Gateway Airport with a new 5-gate terminal, through federal funding. Officials from the Presidential Administration, along with U.S. Reps. Stanton and Gallego, and Mesa Mayor Giles participated with the builder in the widely publicized ribbon-cutting.   Bull Moose Tube sent engineering manager Richard Morales to Washington, D.C., to assist ASCE efforts to advocate for issues pertaining to infrastructure, resilience and Buy America. The Georgian met with his congressman, U.S. Rep. McCormick, who gave him a commander coin. He also met U.S. Sen. Warnock and staff for Sen. Ossoff.   S&ME, Inc. staff from South Carolina visited Washington, D.C., with ASCE to advocate for more U.S. infrastructure investment. Jonathan T. says the delegation met with U.S. Rep. Wilson, along with staff from the offices of U.S. Sens. Graham and Scott, and Reps. Clyburn and Duncan. Anniversaries: Pile Drivers, Inc. of Hollywood, SC, has been installing driven piles in and around Charleston for 50 years. The small, family-owned business has swum against a tide of consolidations and buy-outs, which have changed the face of the industry significantly, over the past two decades. Proprietor John King says that maintaining a fluid business model and adjusting to constant changes in the market, workforce and regulatory environment are the keys to survival. People on the Move Transitions: Rod Kern, representing the Kern family's fourth generation at Equipment Corporation of America (ECA), earns promotion to vice president at the company. Also, foundation construction machinery veteran John Zito onboards as ECA's newest business development manager. Onur Uzun elevates to GM at Copier Machinery, based in The Netherlands with U.S. offices. Coleman Kitchens joins the Texas sales team at John Lawrie Tubulars. Michael Muniz is the newest addition to the THI Pipe & Piling sales team and will manage a northeastern U.S. clientele from his Ohio base. Nick Harrington named manager at American Engineering Testing, Inc.'s Sioux Falls, SD office. Eric Hohmann will lead construction management for CRW Engineering Group, Inc. in Alaska. Gerard Drohan, Jetinder Minhas, James Brickman, Sal D'Amico, Kyle Sidle, Cristos Zoupantis, Shawn Barca and JP Binard promoted to associate at Mueser Rutledge Consulting Engineers in NYC. Recognitions: Aislinn Nagy of Balfour Beatty makes Engineering-News Record's National Top 20 Under 40 list. It notes her resume reflects $1.3B of commercial construction work across 10 market sectors. Rob Soriano won the Unsung Hero award at a maritime industry gathering hosted by the Propeller Club-Port of Tampa. The port engineer for Orion Marine is a decorated USAF veteran who served in three foreign tours of duty and actively supports many maritime causes. Marquia Wooten, a project engineer at Pacific Pile & Marine, has published a coloring book under the penname M. DeVonne. It highlights the contributions of black women in construction and is now available on Amazon. Her work on this and other volunteer initiatives caught the eye of city officials in Seattle who publicized her story. Leon Topalian who helms Nucor Corp. takes a seat on the board of the Global War on Terrorism Memorial Foundation. He also pledges to donate $2.5M in monetary support and steel. Brad Roberts has raised more than $30K in charitable funds over several years of getting sponsored participation in the Boston Marathon. While Brad is sitting out this year, he is helping his GZA GeoEnvironmental colleague Kyle Szewczyk raise money for running this year's race. Kathryn Petek, Sam Sideras and James Walters won the Shannon & Wilson Best Technical Publications contest for their presentation detailing a bridge retrofit in Oregon. Dr. Petek was the solo runner-up for her work outlining pile failure for large diameter open-ended piles. Kevin Kundla became a retiree last Friday, with eyes on the Jersey Shore and Florida. This follows his 40+ year piling industry career which began as a dock builder apprentice and ended as BDM at Commerce Construction Corporation. His employer shares this warm farewell. Jason Hunsberger retired after 29 years in fabrication and welding at Foundation. According to the boss, he always turned "crazy designs" from engineers into reality. Tony Simmonds is retiring from GEOKON following a nearly 40-year career of positive contributions to the geotechnical instrumentation industry and successful development of leaders at the company. The outgoing EVP retains a board advisory role. Linda Navin Murray helps families access grief therapy and other resources through the Cassidy Murray Foundation, inspired by a tragedy on the water. The Haley & Aldrich business systems analyst told her devastating story at a staff safety meeting, the firm stresses water safety. Sending sympathies: Tom "Moe" Modrowski (1956-2024) earned an industry reputation as an "operational mastermind in steel making." The late CEO of Bull Moose Tube passed away suddenly and unexpectedly last month, leaving behind his wife, daughters, grandchildren and many other family members. He is remembered for his thoughtful, accessible and respected leadership. CFO John Krupinski is named interim CEO. On the Job Bechtel gives a shout-out to its partner Morris - Shea Bridge Company for its ES&H commitment, as their coordinated foundation work continues on the Corpus Christi Liquefaction Project. Cianbro strengthened its place in American and military history with completion of the new Senator John Warner Maritime Heritage Center in Alexandria, VA. Named for the late statesman and former Navy secretary, the waterfront learning facility is now home to artifacts like a replica of the 18th century ship Providence.  East Coast Marine Construction & Design delivers a stunning sunrise in this job site photo as it breaks ground on another Daytona Beach, FL, seawall, to mitigate rising waters. Pacific Pile & Marine is the low bidder for a $76M redevelopment of two berths on Terminal 91 at the Seattle Port, according to reports in the Daily Journal of Commerce. Ralph L. Wadsworth Construction crews are in Salt Lake City suburb, Sandy City, where they are building a new interchange with a bridge to ease congestion on Bangerter Highway. Nucor Skyline steel is being installed with a piling hammer from International Construction Equipment. Russell Marine LLC assists erosion control in Sugarland, TX. Colby Smith and crew install weir structures on the Brazos River. Also, East Coast crews expand the Wando terminal for South Carolina Ports with pile extraction and construction of a new pier for the Coast Guard, which involves a sheet pile bulkhead. Junttan hosted professionals from PRECO-MSE at its Finland factory for a tour and meetings with its teams in PDA and engineering. This, after the contractor installed piles from Interpipe Inc. Canada at a Montreal jobsite where it used its PM16 rig. Professional Service Industries is on a Bossier City, LA, job site performing dynamic monitoring using Pile Dynamics, Inc. instrumentation for a Boh Bros. Construction crew while it drives steel H-piles. TRC Companies, Inc. is assisting the City of Lockhart, TX, with infrastructure needs, including the development of a master plan to address needs of the water and wastewater systems. Employee morale is a priority at Foundation in Oakley, CA. Staff recently went bowling event and the annual Horseshoe Tournament is coming back on June 1. Notes from the Virtual Field Do you like to see explosions? Minnesota contractor Veit often performs demolitions before pile installations. It recently pulverized an old power plant in Wisconsin and a local videographer caught the event with multiple camera angles. See the 60 second clip  it's better than CGI-enhanced scenes in modern movies! We're Manson Construction... of course we'll produce a trendy social media video to celebrate our exceptional women in construction! Technology is wonderful, except when it's not: ChatGPT can be useful in construction but should stay in its lane. Shana Opdyke-Carroll calls the foul when the software generated this image of a fake geotech performing a test. She and the real geotechs at D.W. Kozera, Inc. can dispel the mythologies. Texas Hold 'Em  If this social media post from Eustis Engineering were set to music, we would hear the new country song by Houston native Beyoncé accompanying the field crew as they tested soils from the Texas cattle ranch. College student co-ops and interns at construction companies gain real-world experience and keep a talent pipeline flowing into the industry. But sometimes, they can teach the ole dogs some new tricks. Richard E. Pierson Construction Co. commends co-op Shane from Drexel University for his insights to PM's about HCSS civil construction software. It's no secret that pile drivers often hear references to pro wrestling (among other things), however, a unique comparison came in a February blog post from the Greater North Dakota Chamber. The author writes about her childhood and her dad, who was a big WWE fan. She ties that to complimenting PDCA for its work on behalf of members and concludes the column proclaiming that Frank Peters is a far better executive director than Macho Man Randy Savage ever could be. You gotta read it! Thanks for reading 'All the piling news that's fit to print.' PDCA commends its members for the work you do, both in and outside of the industry. If you have something you would like to share with the thousands who receive this publication each month, please send in your news tips to matt@piledrivers.org. Meantime, submit your Project of the Year entries, ASAP. Register today to attend IFCEE. And if you're reading this early on April 1, go saran wrap the toilet at your office before your colleagues arrive...it's April Fool's Day, after all!

Members of the PDCA Texas Chapter gathered Tuesday, March 19th at the Hyatt Regency - Baytown hotel, near Houston, to hear presentations from suppliers of steel and concrete piling, as well as a 30-year veteran pile driving contractor. Approximately 70 attendees gained new insights into the industry and enjoyed the opportunity for lunch and networking. 

Program speakers included Jody Singletary from Dunham Price, a seasoned producer of concrete pile manufacturing. He addressed matters pertaining to quality in concrete piling and its manufacturing process. This segment was made possible through sponsorship by APE-American Piledriving Equipment.

Gerry McShane of Service Steel Warehouse also presented to the assembly. With more than 35 years in the construction industry and expertise in ground engineering, Mr. McShane has worked in the steel piling industry, exclusively, for the past decade. With a resume that includes practical experience on four continents, he addressed material quality in relation to steel products. This presentation was courtesy of Taylor Marine Construction.

A marine and heavy civil construction veteran pile driver, and presently general superintendent at McCarthy Building Companies, Condon Verble concluded the program in his capacity as president of the PDCA Texas Chapter. He briefed attendees on Chapter initiatives and activities it will be offering to members throughout 2024. OTTO Fabricators and proprietor George Cerda sponsored this final segment of the Lunch & Learn event.

The PDCA Texas Chapter Lunch & Learn was made possible through support from the following event sponsors:

• CPS Houston
• Flexifloat
• PACO Ventures
• APE-American Piledriving Equipment (presentation sponsor)
• OTTO Fabricators (presentation sponsor)
• Taylor Marine Construction (presentation sponsor)

Shiri Foster of Lodge Lumber gave introductions of the Lunch & Learn speakers and provided event photography. Mickey Thatcher, Texas Chapter VP from Russell Marine LLC, also contributed photos.

G. McShane

C. Verble

J. Singletary

Registration is open for the PDCA Pacific Coast Chapter's 13th Annual Scholarship Shoot, a popular event that raises funds for regional students pursuing college degrees in engineering and construction. The friendly competition among pile driving professionals takes place Friday, April 26, 2024, at Birds Landing Hunting Preserve, 2099 Collinsville Road, Birds Landing, CA.  

Following the shoot, a BBQ lunch takes place on the grounds of Birds Landing where shooters will be recognized for individual and team scoring. Also, there will be a raffle featuring donated prizes, including a variety of firearms and shooting accessories. And be sure to participate in the live auction which features a 3-day dove hunt for four people in Argentina, courtesy of Norte Hunters!

PDCA members and non-members are welcome to participate in this annual event; to register, or for more information about competing in the shoot, attending the lunch and prizes portion, or simply donating to the Scholarship fund, please click the button below: