(L-R: PND co-founders Roy Peratrovich, Jr. and Dennis Nottingham)

*The following copy is from the PND Engineers, Inc. website in a special section about the passing of firm co-founder Dennis Nottingham:

PND Engineers, Inc. mourns the passing of our co-founder, Dennis Nottingham. Dennis died March 6, 2022, in his home state of Montana. He was 84 years old. The "N" in PND, Dennis moved to Alaska in 1962 to take advantage of the state's ripe engineering opportunities. He worked for the bridge design section at the Department of Highways, now the Alaska Department of Transportation & Public Facilities, where he designed iconic bridges such as the Gulkana, Hurricane Gulch, Sitka Harbor, and Yukon vehicular crossings, many of which featured unprecedented innovations and set new arctic engineering standards. Dennis won the world-renowned NOVA Award for his PND-proprietary OPEN CELL SHEET PILE^TM bulkhead technology in 1998, and he won The Associated General Contractors of Alaska Hart Hat Award in 2004. Dennis served as PND's president for 30 years, until his retirement in 2009. He was enshrined in the Alaska Innovators Hall of Fame in 2015 as "The Bridge Builder," credited with designing more than 300 bridges in Alaska. One of the most influential engineers in Alaska history, Dennis's relentless pursuit of engineering excellence continues to inspire PND today. "Dennis built PND into the powerhouse company that it is, and the whole PND team is forever grateful," PND President Jim Campbell said. CLICK HERE to read PND's full obituary for William Dennis Nottingham.

For more remembrance of the late Mr. Nottingham, be sure to see the next PileDriver magazine coming in June.

L-R: Mike Elliot and Jim Duffy with son Charles Duffy, hold up trophies the Chapter presented them for their years of contribution to the industry.

The PDCA South Carolina Chapter has identified several key players in the pile driving industry who are retired but were critical in its earliest days to shaping PDCA into what it has become today. During each of the Chapter's 2022 quarterly dinner meetings, it is recognizing these individuals and presenting them with a special PDCA trophy. Chapter President John King stated that 'it's important for some of the younger guys to see and meet the guys that built this organization. We should continue to celebrate them while they are still here to join us for an occasional dinner or event."

During the May 12th dinner meeting, Chapter founder Harry Robbins was first on the agenda, tasked with giving a short presentation on two individuals who have been champions to pile driving in the Charleston region; Mike Elliott who recently retired from Equipment Corporation of America after 50 years in the pling machinery business and Jim Duffy who retired 18 years ago from Soil Consultants, Inc. in Charleston after a notable career as an engineer who worked for optimization and QC/QA of prestressed concrete piles.

Also during the Chapter event, Board Member Scott Nigels (below) of Palmetto Pile Driving who delivered the evening's program, used a wheel barrow to cart in to the meeting facility, a variety of props that he used to supplement his presentation. The materials are commonly used to manufacture pre-cast/pre-stressed concrete pilings, a subject on which he gave an overview covering the history, best practices, and quality control/quality assurances for the concrete piles.

Three attendees (below) at the dinner event were randomly selected as winners of PDCA Bucks during a drawing of business cards that happens each meeting and awards those whose names are drawn, with $50 coupons good for purchases at The PDCA Store, an online retail property of PDCA which contains a variety of logo swag, as well as various other industry resources.

Joseph Cook of Thomas & Hutton

Candi Stegall from Parker Marine Contracting

Jeff Harmston of ECA

(L-R) Jason Bales presents on pile driving for the solar industry, Kumar Allady, P.E. presents 'Lifecycle Monitoring of Foundations; both occurred at 2022 Annual Conference

Have you ever considered sharing your expertise with other PDCA members and pile driving industry professionals? Do you have, or could you produce a case study or abstract on a technical concept you have successfully mastered? The PDCA Education Committee invites your topic ideas, papers, and presentation suggestions as it develops the curriculum for the DICEP conference coming to New Orleans in September and the 2023 Annual Conference slated for San Diego in February 2023.

 

In addition to receiving comprehensive classroom and outdoor instruction on the practice of pile driving, participants from throughout North America found time to immerse themselves in a fun and fellowship-filled, southern Louisiana experience. Among the highlights was an authentic Crawfish Boil, courtesy of nearby Baton Rouge-based Contractor, Cajun Industries. Between the generosity of site-host Patriot Construction & Idustrial, LLC, which lent much of its 20-acre facility to PDCA for delivery of The Driven Pile Academy, and the bushels of mudbugs that were cooked on-site and served for the participants' Wednesday evening feast, attendees (many of whom traveled great distances), received a unique experience in the historically significant region of the U.S. and Louisiana known as "Acadiana." (Crawfish Boil photos, later in the post.)

PDCA thanks all students, training coordinators, volunteers, organizers, and of course our sponsors for participating in the inaugural CFI -Driven Pile Academy.