I hope Edition 4 of PileDriver finds you and your company well. The last few months have been very busy at PDCA preparing for our annual conference, and this edition reflects all of that excitement and energy.
The PDCA's prestigious Project of the Year Awards (POY) program gives our members recognition for a job well done. These stories cultivate ideas and showcase successfully executed jobs around the country and, on occasion, internationally read about the winning jobs starting on page 60. Learning from the driven pile methods and techniques of other PDCA members is a true educational experience. I encourage readers to reach out to the winning companies to ask questions and congratulate them on their award.
Thank you to all of the companies that participated by submitting their driven pile jobs: a special congratulations to Ralph L. Wadsworth Construction Company, LLC; PND Engineers, Inc.; Cajun Industries, LLC; Geostructures, Inc.; and CD Perry, LLC for their winning entries. The 2020 program is opening soon for jobs that will be completed in 2019 see www.piledrivers.org for details. Get your cameras out and start documenting!
Overall, the 22nd Annual International Conference and Expo held at the Four Seasons Resort Orlando at Walt Disney World Resort®, this past July was a tremendous success. Please help me in thanking the PDCA office team for their countless hours of planning and execution. I was honored to be a part of such a great event and heard so many positive comments throughout the week. Thank you to everyone who took the time to attend, and if you have feedback to share, please call the PDCA office at 904-215-4771 or email news@piledrivers.org. We eagerly anticipate your thoughts!
We get to do this all over again, May 69, 2020, in Phoenix, Ariz., at the PDCA 23rd Annual Conference. The Education Committee has already begun planning the agenda. Look out Phoenix, here we come!
The annual conference is only one shared learning opportunity that PDCA offers to our industry. I encourage members to also attend the Design and Installation of Cost-Efficient Piles (DICEP) conference, which is taking place Nov. 46, 2019, in Cleveland, Ohio. This year marks the 20th annual DICEP conference you won't want to miss it. The 2019 conference focus is "Deep Foundations, Earth Retention and the Benefits of the Driven Pile." I know many of us can't wait to attend this short but highly informative event. Visit www.pdca-dicep.com for more information and to register. I hope to see you there!
I have to say that it's a great time to be a member of PDCA. The success of our organization can be attributed to the unique collaboration of ideas created by our valued members and volunteers including people new to the organization and those who have been kicking around for some time. I would like to challenge each of you to reach out to a prospective member and share with them the benefits of being part of PDCA.
PDCA is not just any organization we are a group small enough to call each other yet large enough to have a real voice and influence. Go ahead, try it: call a Project of the Year Award winner and congratulate them. Thank a committee chair for their commitment to bettering the pile driving industry. Let the staff know we appreciate what they do behind the scenes. Call an engineer, contractor or a friend you work with and spread the word about this organization.
In the end, we all have the same thought in mind: "A Driven Pile is a Tested Pile."