PDCA member and current DFI President Michael Wysockey (r) will present PDCA Technical Committee Chair Dale Biggers (l) with DFI's prestigious Distinguished Service Award on October 14th in Las Vegas. The two posed for a photo (above) during IFCEE 2021.

Dale Biggers, P.E., a vice president at Boh Bros. Construction in New Orleans, is the recipient of the highest award bestowed to an individual by the Deep Foundations Institute (DFI), the Distinguished Service Award (DSA). This award recognizes individuals who have made exceptionally valuable contributions to the advancement of the deep foundations industry. The award is being presented at the Awards Banquet on Thursday, Oct. 14, during DFI's 46th Annual Conference on Deep Foundations in Las Vegas.

"Dale truly embodies the essence of the DSA," says Theresa Engler, executive director of DFI. "During his storied career he has shown exceptional leadership, technical innovation and dedication to the advancement of the deep foundations industry as well as the young engineers and students who are the future of the industry."

Biggers has worked with Boh Bros. for 53 years and was previously the manager of the pile driving and marine construction department.

In addition to his work at Boh Bros., Biggers also devotes time to industry associations. He is an active member of American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), DFI Driven Pile Committee and ACI 543 Concrete Pile Committee. He is chair of Pile Driving Contractors Association (PDCA) Technical Committee and chair of the GeoCoalition Code Committee. He is also a mentor to the Capstone Project teams at the University of New Orleans.

As thoroughly documented in a three-issue series in PileDriver magazine in 2021, readers learned how Biggers was the chair of the task force for the International Building Codes (IBC) revisions, a nine-year effort involving monthly meetings of a 35-member committee comprised of structural engineers, geotechnical engineers and contractors from across the country. He served as chair of the 2017 DFI Annual Conference on Deep Foundations held in New Orleans and was awarded the ASCE Outstanding Engineer New Orleans in 2006.

Hailing from New Orleans, Biggers attended Tulane University, where he earned bachelor's degrees in both mathematics and civil engineering. In addition, he graduated from the U. S. Coast Guard Officer Candidate School.

There is still time to register and attend the DFI Annual Conference in Las Vegas coming up October 12-15, visit the CONFERENCE WEBSITE.

 

As much of Louisiana is still recovering from Hurricane Ida which brought Category 4 storm intensity to the region in late August, PDCA has moved the 22nd Annual Design and Installation of Cost-Efficient Piles Conference (DICEP). Originally scheduled as a live technical conference running September 15-17 in New Orleans, DICEP is now a virtual event on the same days. The storm is said to be the second most damaging hurricane to strike the State of Louisiana and has left significant portions of New Orleans in disarray, thus negating its viability as a desirable conference destination.  

DICEP registrants are still able to attend the original lineup of presentations, however those will be delivered through the Zoom webinar platform. All sessions for Virtual DICEP 2021 take place Wednesday through Friday (September 15 - 17th) between 1:00 - 5:00pm ET each day. Please visit the online registration page for Virtual DICEP 2021 to secure your spot at the Conference and obtain the necessary Zoom credentials for access to the content spread across three days. PDCA has proudly elected to earmark half of each registration fee for contribution to Hurricane Ida recovery efforts in Louisiana. If you too are interested in sending aid to the area, the City of New Orleans website has lists of local charities to consider.

Meantime, several PDCA Members in Louisiana and beyond are assisting in ground recovery operations in parts of the impacted region. As pictured above, a photo from a LinkedIn post from Baker GCI depicts their crews which are committed to rebuilding efforts in hurricane-ravaged areas. Patriot Construction & Industrial (pictured below) has made available operational space at its Duson office for use by out of state power restoration crews; it has also mobilized personnel in the field to support power restoration efforts across South Louisiana through its civil, hydro excavation, and deep foundations capabilities.


Several other Bayou State PDCA members were quick to take to social media to convey a sense of shared grief and community solidarity with their fellow Louisianans. See the following posts from Sealevel Construction and Premier Geotech and Testing, LLC as found on LinkedIn.