A gubernatorial announcement to celebrate Too frequently this year, U.S. governors have delivered bad news. However, Boh Bros. Construction celebrates a proclamation from Louisiana Gov. John Bel Edwards that awards them the contract for a major infrastructure project. The $353 million Comite River Diversion Project is slated to begin next summer; [WATCH the ceremonial groundbreaking].
Heroics in the desert The Desert Color residential development was directly in the path of a southern Utah wildfire when Jesse Hunt and Curtis Griffith of Sunroc Corp. sprang into action to mitigate its spread. Local officials, including the fire chief, credit the two for saving several homes from devastation.
"The time is always right to do what is right" Chairman David Sauls and CEO Mike Hutchinson of Seattle-based GeoEngineers, Inc. launched their Committed to Change campaign, dedicated to equality. The company will match employee donations to organizations advocating racial justice.
Junttan grows its North American presence by acquiring Canadian Pile Driving Equipment in Alberta; PDCA thanks Bruce Patterson and CPDE for the years of association participation and looks forward to a continued relationship with a bigger and more geographically diversified Junttan.
Virtual Education Available: The PDCA Steel Sheet Pile Guides Webinar is available for download (FREE to members) at The PDCA Store. Additional PDCA webinars are scheduled, and registration information is forthcoming. Meantime, SAVE THE DATE for the following events:
- August 5, 3:005:00 p.m. EDT, Effects of Substance Abuse on the Construction Industry and Are Ethics Ruining Your Business?
The Women in Deep Foundations Committee at DFI has released an informational video highlighting the diversified functions that women perform throughout the industry. Several PDCA member companies that are also active with DFI are involved in the production - with an appearance of an employee representative, with a sponsorship, or both. Here's lookin' at you, ECA, Johnna Emanuel of GeoStructures, Giken and Lucky Nagarajan, Goettle, ICE, Keller, Kiewit, MRCE, Nucor Skyline and David Borger, Anna Sellountou of Pile Dynamics, Inc., S&ME, and Terracon and Liz Smith.
Latest legal resources from member law firms
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It's always bigger in Texas, right? Gerdau and solar provider 174 Power Global are partnering to develop one of the largest solar facilities in the U.S. The 80-megawatt project will stand next to Gerdau's mill in Midlothian, TX, and be comprised of 231,000 solar panels and span more than 700 acres.
Big project? Hold our beer, Texas The new Hugh K. Leatherman Terminal in North Charleston, SC doubles Port of Charleston's container handling capacity and solidifies it as a top coastal port. Read ENR's story about the $1B project on which Cape Romain Contractors is involved with the construction and Soil Consultants, Inc. and Insight Group provide consulting services.
Qualified for an Olympics bid? Soil Consultants has been an integral part of developing the newest aquatics center in North Charleston; Live 5 News previews the facility, Olympic-sized pool and all.
A gold medalist Safety is paramount and GeoStructures, Inc. earns the Gold Safety Award.
Canal Barge subsidiary Canal Terminal Company again earns annual Terminal of the Year award.
Giken LTD. quay wall renovation in Europe wins first place in Amsterdam Innovation Partnership.
Can you see Russia from it now? The Anchorage Waterways Council hosts an annual Creek Cleanup; during the 2020 event, 16 volunteers from PND Engineers participated in the beautification effort.
Expansions and acquisitions:
- APC Construction, LLC expands with a new facility for industrial clients in Gonzales, LA. The Harvey, LA-based company also earns designation as Small Business Administration 2020 Prime Contractor of the Year.
- Golder expands in the Southeast, opens Birmingham, AL office led by Greg Hebeler; Pensacola, FL under Jeff Paul's leadership and a Chattanooga, TN office
- Gilbert Products Inc. announces partnership with dealer ShearForce that will expand availability of its pile driving equipment in the U.S. (Idaho, Montana, Oregon, Washington).
- Sealevel Construction acquires a marine yard in Houma, LA; Eagle Drydock and Marine Services is available for a variety of marine transportation and construction services.
Anniversaries:
- Congratulations Consolidated Pipe & Supply Company for reaching 60 years of operating as a Birmingham, AL-based family-owned business. Here's to the next 60!
- Also turning 60 is George Harms Construction Co., Inc. of Howell, NJ, the employment home of PDCA Northeast Chapter president Tim Fogerty, who is featured in the upcoming issue of PileDriver magazine.
Ongoing COVID-19 response:
- TRC Companies participated in the Global Compact Virtual Leaders Summit of the United Nations, a gathering to address COVID-19 among other global issues.
- Powell Foundations Inc. participated in an effort to raise funds for vulnerable residents in one Ontario town; they generated $10,000 in charity.
- Terracon has given a $10,000 grant to Feeding America for relief efforts during the health crisis; additionally, it has pledged to match staff donations to the same organization, up to $50.
- Koppers, Inc. CEO Leroy Ball announces the Hometown Hero campaign, in which the Utility & Industrial Products division is awarding electric co-op employees who have "gone the extra mile" during extraordinary times with a $500 contribution to a charity in his/her name.
- Following the COVID-reorganized school year, Nucor Vulcraft treated teachers and staff at the Grapeland Independent School District in Texas to lunch, hot off the grill.
- Healthcare workers are still challenged by COVID; Patriot Construction and Industrial provided lunch for the hard-working team at Baton Rouge General Hospital.
- Robishaw Engineering/Flexifloat donated 100 N95 masks to staff at Houston's Memorial Hermann Medical Center.
- And a face mask quid pro quo All staff get one of the nearly 200 donated masks from Fishes and Loaves at Sealevel Construction. In return, the contractor has donated $5 per mask to three Thibodaux, LA charities of F&L's choosing.
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The monthly round-up:
- ECS Limited promotes Tracy Allen to VP, corporate director of client relations. Also elevating are Siddharth Neekhra and Vince Elizarde in Texas. New hires are Ed Greenlee as accounts director in the Midwest and Kevin Hopkins to the Mid-Atlantic.
- Equipment Corporation of America elevates John Hayes to branch manager in Florida, hires Ben Morgan as Bauer product service manager.
- PND Engineers, Inc. adds four; Anna Kopitov and Karl Larsen join the firm's Seattle office, Addison Yang and Tanner Stephens are new to the home office in Anchorage, AK.
- GROUP Industries names Todd Shiflett to business development team in Baton Rouge.
- Gerdau adds Ethan Liberty as Atlanta-based business development manager for piling sales.
- Tom Posey joins Braun Intertec in Houston.
- Veronica De Frietas is new geotechnical manager at Universal Engineering Sciences in Tampa.
- John Frazee joins GZA GeoEnvironmental Syracuse office.
- David Pichanick named to area director for Junttan Asia-Pacific region.
- After 32 years as a mechanic at Junttan, Ami Kortelainen reaches retirement.
Other notes of interest:
Georges Valcour of GRL Engineers is recognized by the State of Florida; the Army National Guardsman led a unit that administered thousands of free COVID-19 tests at Florida A&M University.
Vanessa Zambo of Terracon named to Kansas City Business Journal, Women Who Mean Business.
Lizetta Fennessy, SVP of Haley & Aldrich named Distinguished Alumni Award from the University of Massachusetts Amherst College of Engineering.
Vanessa Breslin of Canal Barge Company in New Orleans makes the The Waterways Journal Weekly annual list recognizing 40 Under 40 award. Fun fact, she previously worked for the Saints.
Angie Hunter of Kiewit, Corp. in New Jersey wins industry recognition as Young Engineer of the Year.
Tyler Roberts of Premier Geotech and Testing in Baton Rouge earns ATSSA certification.
Ryan Maloney, PileDriver contributing author from Jimerson Birr, named to Florida Legal Elite. |
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| From the Association & Chapters |
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Such a tease The PDCA Project of the Year winners are in, but we aren't revealing them here. Watch for the forthcoming PileDriver magazine featuring all winning entries; available the week of July 13.
Consolation To whet your appetite for seeing PDCA members get recognized, the ENR lists are out:
- ENR's 2020 list of "Top 400 Contractors" includes PDCA members Balfour Beatty, Boh Bros., Cajun Industries, Clark Construction, Hawaiian Dredging Construction, Kiewit, Kokosing Group (parent of Corman), Vecellio Group (parent of Hal Jones Contractor).
- ENR's list of "Top 500 Design Firms" includes members: Braun Intertec, Dewberry, Engineering Consulting Services, Fugro USA, GeoEngineers, Golder, GZA GeoEnvironmental, Inc., Haley & Aldrich, Infrastructure Consulting and Engineering, Kiewit, Mueser Rutledge Consulting Engineers, PND Engineers, S&ME Inc. and
New member shout-out Welcome EMC Engineering Services, Inc. and resident geotech Ashton Byrne, who joined PDCA in May. The Savannah, GA-based consulting/engineering firm practices nationwide and has nine offices throughout Georgia and just opened its 10th in Greenville, SC.
Quotable A nice surprise in our inbox, a note from PDCA founding member Charles Whiteaker: "We had some great presidents who worked hard to unify and organize the pile drivers...It was a 'team' accomplishment. I am now almost 90 and the old memory isn't as sharp as it once was, but I know one thing 'A Driven Pile, Is A Tested Pile!'" Thank you for your vision, sir.
Remembering 1995 Washington gave us the Contract with America, Los Angeles found O.J. guilty, Oklahoma City was devastated by terror, San Francisco, Houston, New Jersey and Atlanta were NFL, NBA, NHL and MLB champs respectively, two-way pagers and DVDs were hot tech items, Jerry Garcia rode that train to immortality, significant births that year were a bunch of present-day YouTube stars (huh?) and PDCA formed! Issue #4 of PileDriver will commemorate the 25th anniversary of this association with new technical content and plenty of nostalgia, coming to your mailbox in September. |
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| Random Notes from the Field |
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Half empty or half full? Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) has long been a necessary budget item in construction. However, as we transition to what is described as the post-COVID-19 "new normal," more companies are increasing budgets for PPE. Early signs show it is a costlier line-item that some expected. A more positive spin on this issue, that can be a welcome opportunity for struggling local businesses.
Don't drink the PPE Terracon safety director Jim Wright shows potential dangers of hand sanitizer.
But "erbody" likes fireworks, right? Two months in a row, PDCA members' kids have gotten credit on company social media; this month, Ronnie Wills of Aggregate Technologies shares an explosive, online job announcement for the company that his 11-year-old enhanced. Happy 4th of July to PDCA's U.S. members (and happy Canada Day today to our northern friends!)! |
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| Thanks for reading 2020's seventh installment of A Pile of News; please keep sending and posting your company announcements. And don't forget to include #PDCADriven on your social media, you might be randomly selected to win PDCA logo merchandise from The PDCA Store. |
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PDCA, in collaboration with Pile Dynamics, Inc., will present Deep Foundation Integrity Testing and Wave Equation Analysis (DFDTA), a three-day program over the dates of November 11-13, 2020 at the Doubletree by Hilton Orlando Airport Hotel in Orlando, FL. This event was originally scheduled to take place in Cleveland, OH, however, due to ongoing efforts to mitigate the COVID-19 health crisis, organizers have relocated the seminar to Orlando.
PDCA Member law firm Jimerson Birr based in Jacksonville, FL recently released a two-part webinar series examining legal issues in the construction industry. Partner Ryan Maloney (pictured) and two of his colleagues make availalbe on their YouTube site, the program entitled Managing Problem Projects in Turbulent Times: Tools for Success. 
If you haven't visited The PDCA Store, online at PileDrivers.org, stop by to see what logo merchandise is available to you and crew. Among the variety of clothing items are two different styles of t-shirts, jobsite appropriate safety green (pictured, left) is among the color options. Additionally, another shirt that features the likeness of the American flag is a popular seller, and just in time for the Fourth of July.
