PileDriver Magazine: Issue #6-2021



In Issue 6 2021 of PileDriver, PDCA is taking a winter trip to Canada! In this issue, we look to our northern
"neighbour" to feature Canadian PDCA members, influential individuals, projects, business considerations and more.


Don't miss these articles:
PROJECT SPOTLIGHT:
The Canadian driven pile
industry achieves new depths with the Kitimat LNG Plant. Innovation and coordination allowed for installation some of the longest single-length driven land piles in North America.
Read more

CAREER STORY:
Bengt Fellenius, Dr. Tech,
P. Eng., M. ACSE
a legend in foundation design.
Read more

PDCA CONTRACTOR MEMBER:
Powell Foundations Inc. helps keep Ontario business traffic moving.
Read more

BUSINESS:
Transcending international borders
Samuel Roll Form employees work together for success.
Read more


Posted in PileDriver Magazine.

PDCA Members Give $7500 to Louisianans Impacted by Hurricane

Funds generated when several PDCA members opted to donate their registration reimbursements from the cancelled, live DICEP conference in September in New Orleans, are helping Louisiana families who endured significant loss during Hurricane Ida enjoy the holiday season. PDCA President Kevin Gourgues (pictured, left) delivered the check to the Iberville Parish Sheriff's Office Charity Fund, which has used the goodwill to expand the 'Shop with a Cop' initiative and ensure that children from needy families in the storm-torn area are able to receive Christmas cheer. 

Sheriff Brett Stassi (pictured, right) of Iberville Parish and current president of the Louisiana Sheriff's Association accepted the PDCA donation for the Charity Fund. He explained, "Needy families with young children are selected to participate in the 'Shop with a Cop' program; a needy child is given an allotment of funds, then paired with a deputy to shop at participating local vendors during closed store hours." 

He continued; "The devastation I observed was catastrophic.  Homes were destroyed or completely swept from their foundations and piling - often they were nowhere to be found.  The need for help in these communities is very high."

President Gourgues extends his appreciation to the many PDCA members who chose to direct their DICEP registration funds to this important, relief effort. DICEP, an annual technical program of PDCA that was scheduled in 2021 to take place in New Orleans mere days following Ida's destruction in the region, was salvaged and delivered as a virtual seminar which negated the need for the registration monies necessary for the live event. And since many attendees had registered well in advance of the Hurricane and already paid to attend, they were given the option for a refund or to redirect the funds for this PDCA fundraising effort.


Full list of DICEP '21 registrants who sent registration funds to Hurricane Ida relief:
AMERICAN SpiralWeld Pipe Company, LLC
Beaty Construction
Braun Intertec
Cajun Industries, LLC

Consolidated Pipe & Supply Co.
Giken America Corp.
GRL Engineers, Inc./Pile Dynamics, Inc.
GZA GeoEnvironmental, Inc.

Hartman Engineering
Herbert F. Darling, Inc.
ICE - International Construction Equipment, Inc.
Mason Construction, LLC
Nagy Engineers, Inc.
Nucor Skyline
Pacific Pile & Marine
Palmetto Pile Driving
Patrick DiCerbo/Northwestern Mutual

Patriot Construction & Industrial
Premier Geotech and Testing, LLC
Richard Goettle, Inc.
S&ME, Inc.
Samuel Roll Form Group

Spotted in 2021 - The Year in Pictures


(L-R) Joe Gilardi, Boots and Charlie Booth of American Equipment & Foundation in Providence, RI.

Here's a look back at the past year through the PDCA lens. Thank you for your membership, participation and/or interest in the organization. We look forward to continuing to serve you in representation of the driven pile in 2022 and beyond. After all, "A driven pile...is a tested pile!"

 


"It's the ultimate luxury to combine passion and contribution. It's also a very clear path to happiness." Sheryl Sandberg

Dale Biggers
1944-2021

Which 2021 Project Will You Submit for Annual Award?


(L-R) Among the 2021 PDCA Project of the Year Award winning companies are Foundation Constructors with Dermot Fallon and ICE, Inc. with Christian and Pollyanna Cunningham.

Jacksonville, FL (December 22, 2021): In just days, the submission period for the 2022 PDCA Project of the Year Awards opens to PDCA members; have you identified your 2021, completed project that you will enter in the annual program? Participation is a benefit of your membership and can earn your company widespread recognition. Member companies are encouraged to submit projects in any of the following categories: land, marine, earth retention, engineering/associate and international. This is a tremendous opportunity for your masterpiece to receive the attention that it deserves, across the deep foundations industry. Consider the following:
  • You earn industry-wide recognition for unique design, problem solving, value engineering, cost savings, driven pile application, end-user benefits
  • Program celebrates ingenuity, hard work, commitment and ultimately signifies industry leadership
  • Your work will be featured in the August issue of PileDriver magazine; ALL entries appear in subsequent issues
  • Awardees will be recognized during the next PDCA Annual Conference
While PDCA begins accepting entries on January 1, 2022, you need to act quickly. All submissions must be delivered to PDCA via electronic file share no later than close of business on May 6, 2022. Visit the Project of the Year Awards website for further information and the Entry Form.

We look forward to providing our Judge's Panel with your entries!

Early 'Roadrunner' Rates for Arizona Conference End Friday

The PDCA 23rd Annual Conference & Expo is fast approaching, make sure you secure discounted rates and register for this event by THIS Friday (12/17). We look forward to seeing you at the Arizona Grand Resort in Phoenix February 9-12, 2022.

Don't miss this important, annual gathering of the pile driving industry. The 2022 program includes a variety of opportunities for professional development, business networking and even personal enjoyment:
  • Keynote presentations
  • Technical seminars
  • Exhibit hall
  • Project of the Year Awards, other recognitions
  • PDCA committee meetings
  • Annual golf outing
  • Nightly receptions
  • Much more!
Please visit the conference website for all event details. And don't forget to secure your spot at this conference by Friday (12/17) to receive the early bird registration rates.

See you in Phoenix!

Posted in PDCA Annual Confernece.

Gulf Coast Chapter Leads PDCA Presence at Engineering Seminar

Newly-elected President of the PDCA Gulf Coast Chapter Gerard Chenevert of GROUP Deep Foundations staffs the Chapter booth in the exhibit hall for the 2021 LCECS

The 31st Annual Louisiana Civil Engineering Conference & Show (LCECS) concluded December 8th at the Hyatt Regency in New Orleans. The event featured several inspiring and thought-provoking sessions featuring presenters from across the country who practice engineering in the private sector, government, academia and more. Engineering Affiliate members of PDCA were among those providing educational content for attendees.

Additionally, PDCA members were involved in other aspects of the LCECS. The PDCA Gulf Coast Chapter, in partnership with PDCA, hosted an informational booth in the exhibit hall. Other exhibitors included Ardaman & Associates, Atlas Tube, Baker Gulf Coast Industrial, Boh Bros. Construction, Cajun Industries, Consolidated Pipe & Supply, Eustis Engineering, Keller, Kiewit Foundations, Terracon Consultants, Tolunay-Wong Engineers, and Trinity Products.

PDCA members who served as event sponsors were Terracon, Ardaman & Associates, Eustis Engineering, Linfield, Hunter & Junius, Inc., and Premier Geotech and Testing.

Posted in Chapter News.

Industry Alert: PCI Hosts Dec. 14th Webinar on PC/PS Concrete Piles


Don Suplicki (far right), joins team members in the casting yard at Flexicore of Texas in Houston, back in September, 2021

December 4, 2021 (Houston, TX): PDCA Member Don Suplicki, Vice President at Flexicore of Texas shares with PDCA an announcement from the Precast/Prestressed Concrete Institute (PCI) about an upcoming CEU Webinar from the organization, it is entitled Precast, Prestressed Concrete Piles. The virtual event features a panel of industry leaders who will share a case study and summarize advantages of this method of deep foundation construction. Suplicki notes that there are "PDCA members who would have an interest" in this educational opportunity.

The webinar takes place December 14th at 2:00 PM, CST; participants will receive 1 AIA CEU/PDH. For more information about the event and to register, please visit the PCI website by clicking the button below:

SC Chapter 'Wows' 2nd Graders on Jobsite; Donates to Affordable Housing Project


Update #1 from the PDCA South Carolina Chapter - Students and teachers from the Charleston Collegiate elementary school took a field trip to a jobsite on Headquarters Island in South Carolina where they were provided an intimate view of a driven pile installation in progress.

The second grade class enjoyed touching the large, partially installed pilings as well as sitting in the powerful pile driving rigs. In addition to a valuable learning experience about deep foundation construction, the students were also exposed to an exciting career path they had likely never considered.

PDCA members participating in the field trip were Pile Drivers, Inc. which made equipment available to the students and Nucor Skyline which provided all visitors with miniature hardhat giveaways. 


*          *          *

Update #2 from the PDCA South Carolina Chapter - Elsewhere, the PDCA South Carolina Chapter spent the early days of December 2021 driving timber and pre-cast/pre-stressed concrete pilings into the land that formerly served Charleston as a landfill. Developers have identified the location as an opportunity to one day be transformed into sorely needed affordable housing and mixed-use space to accommodate the needs of current and future residents of Charleston.

Incoming President of PDCA South Carolina, John King of Pile Drivers, Inc., indicated that the test pile project performed at Laurel Island involved several Chapter members who participated through contribution of equipment, materials and labor. He noted, "We are donating the test piles so they (developers) might design the whole project on driven piles (both wood and prestressed.)"

To learn more about the aspirational development in Charleston, you can read about it in a September 6th article by the Charleston City Paper.

A Pile of News - December 2021

A Pile of News: December 2021
A briefing on news and information from the pile driving contractors, associated manufacturers, construction suppliers and affiliated engineers who comprise the PDCA.
by Matt Bisbee, PDCA
Originally sent Dec. 1, 2021
Association & Chapter Events
Dec. 7: 11 AM - 1 PM EST: PDCA 2021 Education Webinar Series #7 Innovative Technologies in Bridge Construction, by various presenters representing diverse piling equipment and supply companies who will share innovations, engineering considerations.

Jan. 3, 2022: The PDCA 2022 Project of the Year Awards Program opens for entries. The time is now to start identifying which projects you will submit to this annual recognition of excellence in pile driving. This FREE program is exclusive to PDCA members.

Feb. 9 - 12, 2022: PDCA 23rd Annual International Conference & Expo is at the Arizona Grand Resort & Spa in Phoenix. Educational and professional development programming, industry awards, trade show and networking among the features. Early bird registration is open NOW!

April 4 - 7, 2022: PDCA Contractors Foundation Institute: The Driven Pile Academy is a NEW and innovative program including both an in-classroom and outdoor interactive experience. Industry leading equipment professionals are retained to teach participants real world applications.

Thinking about joining PDCA? Complete a membership application today, in time for 2022!

PDCA South Carolina Chapter presented Citadel student Cadet Richard Milling the prestigious "Mac" Nigels Scholarship during November's quarterly dinner meeting. PHOTOS.
  • Members elected chapter leadership for 2022: president John King, VP Susheel Kohlwalkar, sec./treas. Andrea Edwards, asst. sec./treas. Jason Moore. Directors are Jim Challenger, Jordan Houston, Greg Canivan, Scott Nigels, Peter Adams and Simon Ghanat.

PDCA Gulf Coast Chapter met for a quarterly dinner Nov. 18th in Kenner, LA.
  • Chapter leadership was elected at the event; congrats to president Gerard Chenevert, VP Dylan Andre, treasurer Brent Guthrie and secretary Tony Sepulvado.

PDCA members in Houston are gathering Dec. 16 at 5:30 PM at True Anomaly Brewing to network, discuss a formal TX PDCA presence; email armando@brcint.com for details. PDCA supports the Texas growth efforts.

PDCA sends season's greetings; remember to shop The PDCA Store for industry gift items!
Foundation Constructors, Inc., you are this month's winner!
Send an email to marian@piledrivers.org before the end of December to claim your prize!
News from PDCA Companies
Anniversary:
CD Perry and Sons, LLC started in upstate New York in 1936 when a new home cost $4K, a gallon of gas was 10 cents and the Yankees edged the NY Giants in the World Series. Fast-forward 85 years, the Troy-based contractor has established a big footprint across the Empire State's land and waterscapes. Over the years, it has expanded services; it even snagged a PDCA 2019 Project of the Year Award! Congrats!

Governmental relations:
'Tis the season of giving back:
Recognitions:
Acquisitions & expansions:
Media Hits
Good Morning America-ABC News featured the Eastside Coastal Resiliency Project underway in NYC. This is a $1.5B coastal overhaul described as the world's "largest urban climate adaptation project." Weeks Marine is among the contractors involved, as video captures machinery in action and ABC's Ginger Zee reporting in their logo hardhat. An Equipment Corporation of America rig is also spotted in the broadcast.

WGNO-TV (ABC), New Orleans airs story about the impact of federal defense spending in Louisiana; Weeks Marine is noted as a top defense contractor in 2020 with a cumulative contract value over $300M.

KSL-TV (NBC), Salt Lake City reports from a community lunch in Bountiful, UT, where R.L. Wadsworth Construction fed frontline healthcare workers at Lakeview Hospital.

Engineering News-Record carries a story detailing $8B in DOD funds the U.S. Navy awarded for shipyard projects in Hawaii and Washington state. Among PDCA members involved in forthcoming projects: Hawaiian Dredging Construction Co. and Orion through a JV and Kiewit in another JV.

Seattle Daily Journal of Commerce previews a new "restaurant row" on which PND Engineers is consulting; the development is coming to Port of Everett north of Seattle.
People on the Move
Congratulations!
Transitions:
  • Mike Hood counted his last bean for Birmingham-based contractor Morris-Shea. He retires as senior accountant after 28 years with the company. 
  • Tony Gonzalez retires following 19 years as a mechanic with Cape Romain Contractors.
  • David Giwosky joins the new San Diego office of Foundation Pile as senior estimator.
  • Martin Arcand promoted to Gilbert Products construction sales team.
  • Scott Poellinger appointed CFO and SVP at Braun Intertec.
  • John Schemmel, Ph.D., P.E. to lead ECS Limited expansion of materials testing in Baltimore, Mohammed Mulla, P.E., Ph.D. becomes VP in Raleigh, Mac McNeil is new business development manager in Birmingham.
  • Summer Howell, new strategic business mgr. at Infrastructure Consulting & Engineering.
  • Mary Ellen Large, the technical staple at DFI, joins Pittsburgh-based construction firm.

Recognitions:
On the Job:
APC Construction shares its JV progress on the new ferry terminal in downtown New Orleans; crews drive 16" steel pipe for temporary pedestrian access to the banks of the Mighty Mississippi.

Cape Romain Contractors constructs Battery Park pedestrian bridge that will connect Riverfront Park and a new Noisette Creek-side development in North Charleston, SC.

GROUP Deep Foundations installed a foundation with PC concrete pilings valued at $1.4M for the new Enbridge Pipeline Metering Station in remote Cameron Parish, LA.

Hawaiian Dredging Construction Co. works to update Victoria Ward Park in Honolulu's urban core.

O'Quinn Marine begins Whitehall Boardwalk to connect Beaufort to Lady's Island in the SC Lowcountry.

American Pole & Timber's SVP Eric Lincoln acknowledges global challenges continue plaguing building materials markets; says gun barrel timber pilings are available, good alternative for house pilings.

Aggregate Technologies performs internal quality control on its patented, pile-cutting process; see video of a 69-second cut through a 16"x3/8" concrete-filled pipe pile. Time is money!

ECA shares Anthony Sciortino's dramatic pic of an HPSI vibro in use at 1-95 Viaduct in Providence, RI.

Engineered Rigging assists in dismantling a large-scale crane inside a tunnel, part of largest construction project in Chile at a new hydropower plant in Sane Jose de Maipo.

Flexicore of Texas produced 97,000 lb precast concrete pile caps for Dow Chemical's expansion near Port Freeport, Texas, the Hemisphere's largest chemical manufacturing complex.

GeoQuip sold the PileCo D62 package and rented the HPSI vibro to perform demo and replacement of the Queens Creek Bridge for the I-64 Capacity Improvements project in York County, VA.

ICE, Inc. has a vibro on duty for a $284M land redevelopment in Pawtucket, RI; it will assist in construction of a 15K sf American Soccer stadium, mixed-use complex along the Seekonk River.

Interpipe supplied steel for a footbridge paralleling the perimeter of Lac Des Fees, south of Montreal. Preco-MSE installed the pipe for City of Saint Constant with rig and vibro due to soil condition variance.

Nucor Skyline supplies 3K tons of steel for 16 new structures for water resource optimization in South Florida; ASAP Group among the contractors involved in the installation.

GEOKON provided a Model 4675LV water level monitoring system in use at a Brazilian dam job.

Universal Engineering Sciences is engaged for material testing, inspection services at forthcoming F1 Miami Grand Prix Track.
Notes from the Field
First (known) PDCA member to enter the NCAA NIL Era College athletes can now legally earn money for lending their name, image and likeness to a commercial interest. Per our tally-sheet, J.D. Fields' is the first piling industry player to engage NIL deals; it signed SMU wide receiver Rashee Rice and days later enlisted SMU basketball guard Kendric Davis.

Is there room in the floatin' trailer park? Weeks Marine earns a unique honor in 2021 as the proud owner of one of the year's 10 most Significant Boats, according to WorkBoat magazine. The Jack K. William O, co-designed by Weeks, learns tonight (Dec. 1) if it is the Boat of the Year.

Will the real BMOC please stand up? Justin Strong, Jesse Galligan and Jesse Kolowitz from Orion visited alma mater, Central Washington University, in November. The trio of marine constructors engaged with students in the Heavy Civil Means and Methods class to provide real-world perspectives.

Fixing the supply chain Pt. 1 At first glance, it looks like GZA GeoEnvironmental takes a utilitarian approach to addressing supply chain challenges. Looking closer, it's clear this is just the Providence, RI "jetpull" team raising $5K to combat multiple sclerosis by leashing-up a FedEx jet.

Fixing the supply chain Pt. 2 Perhaps your smaller online orders (BBs, fishhooks, Lite Brite bulbs, etc.) could be delivered by the new airplane belonging to Michael Hixson of Infrastructure Consulting & Engineering? He won the Sport Cub S2 Remote Control Plane at a recent conference.

Dumb luck or strategic marketing? Either way, Stan's Donuts' photobomb gets some prime visibility at a Chicago construction jobsite. ECS Limited is among project consultants for the Greystar build.

Beach volleyball in Chicago? There's plenty of sandy lakefront, a looming cold winter and rampant mediocrity in pro sports, so why not celebrate the playoff contending EXP beach volleyball team?

Quotable Keller shares poignant narrative defining professionalism in labor. It advocates judgements be based on the content of one's character, rather than markings on skin and other appearance details.
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Posted in A Pile of News PDCA Monthly e-newsletter.

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