CLICK HERE to read the full 'On the Scene' section in the May edition of ENR (subscriber content)

L-R: Kent Parker, Marty Swain, Candi Stegall of Parker Marine Contractors in Charleston, SC
show-off their PDCA Membership Directory to inspire you to update your listing.

Orange Park, FL (May 27):  Members are encouraged to review your PDCA account and make any contact, personnel or other changes; this will ensure that the most current and accurate information about your company publishes in the 2023 PDCA Membership Directory - a critical reference guide used widely throughout the pile driving industry. It is important to complete any necessary updates before the deadline of September 30, 2022. This is necessary because our publication team will need time to produce the book so that PDCA can deliver the final product to our members in December. And we want members' listings to contain updated and accurate content for the new year!

In addition to the Directory, your listing is also available at piledrivers.org. Once you update your listing through your member account, those changes will also reflect on your online listing. 

You can login to your PDCA account by clicking 'Member Login' in the upper right-hand corner of the PDCA website, www.piledrivers.org. You will be prompted for a password. If you do not know your password, you can simply click 'Forgot Password' and set up a new one. If you have any questions or need help, please contact PDCA at (904) 215-4771.

If you are not a current PDCA member but would like to get your company listed in the 2022 PDCA Membership Directory, there is still time to join the Association. The annual Directory is one of many benefits that our members enjoy. Please enroll by completing this Membership Application today.

PDCA thanks you for your quick attention to this matter and your ongoing support of the pile driving industry.

Chapter Vice President David Price opens the program (photo credit: Bobby Ramic)

The 2022 PDCA Northeast Chapter Professional Development Course took place on May 18, 2022, at George Harms Construction Company in Howell, NJ, which also was the event sponsor. More than 40 deep foundations professionals registered for the daylong event which featured six-hours of accredited, industry education. Chapter Vice President David Price opened the program which included three segments dedicated to advancement of the driven pile. The topics and their respective presenters are as follows:

• Design Considerations for Driven Excavation Support Systems reviewed design of temporary excavation support systems including steel sheet piling, driven soldier beams, and timber lagging including braced, tieback, and cantilever systems. Presenters on this topic were:
  • Jennifer Peirce Brandt, P.E., President of Peirce Engineering, Inc. 
  • John J. Peirce, III, P.E., Peirce Engineering, Inc.                                                             

 

• Permanent Sheet Pile Walls for Subterranean Structures included an analysis of a sheet pile foundation, attributes of an earth retention system, concerns/benefits of permanent sheet pile structures, discussion of below grade parking, and case studies. Attendees heard from the following presenters:
  • David Borger, Director of Engineering, Nucor Skyline
  • Kurt Levins, Engineering Manager, Nucor Skyline

• Steel Sheet Pile Bridge Abutments provided professional discussion of sheet pile walls used as bridge abutments; also, attendees learned about design and construction for high module walls, cellular cofferdams, driven sheet pile and more. Previous presenters David Borger and Kurt Levins also delivered this program.

Jennifer Peirce Brandt, P.E.

John J. Peirce, III, P.E.

David Borger,

Kurt Levins

(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