| A Pile of News: September 2022 |
|
Good morning to the 3,989 pile driving professionals reading this email right now! Welcome to your monthly briefing of news and information from the pile driving contractors, associated manufacturers, construction suppliers and affiliated engineers who comprise PDCA.
by Matt Bisbee, PDCA
Originally sent Sept. 1, 2022 |
|
BREAKING NEWS! Cajun Industries, GeoStructures, Richard Goettle, Inc., PND Engineers, Inc., Ralph L. Wadsworth Construction and Russell Marine, LLC have all won 2022 PDCA Project of the Year Awards! Each project is featured in the latest PileDriver; read the digital edition to see photos and learn about the amazing work your fellow PDCA members are doing around the country. Congratulations!
- Now is a good time to remind you that the pile driving project you're finishing may be worth submitting for a 2023 PDCA Project of the Year Award think about it. The program opens for entries in January.
|
|
| From the Association & Chapters |
|
Mark your calendars!
- Sept. 2: PDCA Gulf Coast Chapter Sporting Clay Shoot, 8 AM3 PM CDT. This biennial gathering is at Bridgeview Gun Club in Port Allen, LA.
-
- Sept. 8: The Use of FRP Composites in Piling Applications, 23 PM EDT, part of the 2022 Value Driven Webinar Series.
-
- Sept. 12 - 14: DICEP is in New Orleans; you still have time to register but act quickly!
-
- Sept. 30: PDCA Membership Directory modifications are due. Visit and update your account.
-
- Oct. 12 - 14: Deep Foundation Dynamic Testing & Analysis, a twice-per-year seminar, workshop and exam, in partnership with PDI, Inc., is at the Cleveland Marriott East in Ohio.
-
- Oct. 26: PDCA Northeast Chapter Dinner Meeting, 69 PM EDT at Bocelli's Restaurant in Staten Island, NY. This PDCA members only event will feature a technical program.
-
- Nov. 1: PDCA Texas Chapter Lunch & Learn. 11 AM2 PM CDT at Hilton Houston Plaza/Medical Center. Registration is $35 and includes lunch. Sponsorships are encouraged.
-
- Nov. 3: South Florida Social, 5:307:30 PM EDT; a FREE networking happy hour at Bokampers in Miramar, FL. PDCA members and non-members are invited, will receive a short industry update. Sponsorship appreciated!
Chapter/Regional News:
- Networking in Norfolk brought pile driving professionals to coastal Virginia on Aug.11. PDCA members and non-members gathered at Benchtop Brewing for a happy hour. PHOTOS
-
- PDCA Gulf Coast Chapter met at the Golden Nugget Casino in Biloxi, MS on Aug. 18; following a reception, attendees enjoyed a buffet dinner and a program on PS concrete piling. PHOTOS
-
- PDCA South Carolina Chapter met in Charleston on Aug. 18; it included a social hour, dinner, ceremony recognizing industry retirees and a presentation about PDCA education. PHOTOS
Industry News
|
|
Congratulations, Ronald Hoefeld with Meever USA, Inc.,
you are this month's winner! Send an email to marian@piledrivers.org before
the end of the month to claim your prize! |
|
Governmental relations:
- Boh Bros. Construction Co. hosted U.S. Sen. Cassidy at their New Orleans offices; he discussed the benefits to Louisiana that are possible through the new federal infrastructure law.
-
- Heldenfels Enterprises president Fred Heldenfels IV is board chair at the Austin Chamber, which enabled him to join Texas U.S. Sen. Cornyn and U.S. Rep. McCaul for the announcement of a new federal initiative. Previously, he hosted U.S. Rep. Doggett at the Chairman's Circle Lunch.
-
- UBC Pile Drivers and Divers-EASRCC and others effectively advocated for grant funding of nearly $23M coming to Maryland. Members of the group joined Gov. Hogan and others to celebrate the award that will assist the Maryland Works for Wind apprenticeship program.
-
- Nucor joined Lowes, State Farm, GAP and others as Grand Slam Sponsors for the Congressional Baseball Game at Nationals Park in Washington, DC. It raised over $1.5M for local charities. This author salutes the GOP's catcher for the past decade, Rep. Davis (IL), who hangs up his cleats.
-
- GZA GeoEnvironmental is designing a stabilization on the North Nashua River in Massachusetts; a consortium of local, state and federal officials, including FEMA Region Director Ehrlich, State Sen. Cronin and State Rep. Higgins, featured the project during a Leominster news conference.
Expansions & acquisitions:
- BAUER Equipment America hosted a ceremonial groundbreaking at its Conroe, TX HQ to build a home for a new division that will increase its services across all product lines; CEO Ruediger Kaub and Mayor Czajkoski were among the "shovelers."
-
- ECS Limited continues a westward expansion and hangs a shingle in Salt Lake City. The office is led by Salt Lake native Matt Olson, P.E., who relocates from the Raleigh, NC office.
-
- Haley & Aldrich taps senior client leader Alicia Shull to lead its new Cincinnati location. The Massachusetts-based engineering firm announced in August it was opening a third Ohio office.
Recognitions:
Giving back:
Anniversary:
- From what began as a collaboration in 1946 between a U.S. Army Corps of Engineers officers in Savannah, GA, Thomas & Hutton has grown into "one of the most well-respected and established multidisciplinary firms in the Southeastern U.S." Congratulations to the firm, which now operates 13 offices in four states as it celebrates 75 years in business!
|
|
Transitions:
- Robert S. Boh moves to chairman/CEO at Boh Bros. Construction, handing off the presidency to Stephen Boh, the fifth family member to helm the New Orleans powerhouse contractor. Also, Edward A. Scheuermann, P.E. becomes COO after 35 years, Robert Senior, P.E. rises to CFO and G.J. Schexnayder, P.E. is the new manager of heavy construction.
-
- Travis Boone, a 23 year veteran in foundation construction who started as a bridge engineer, transitions to Orion Marine Group to assume the role of president/CEO.
-
- Daniel J. Shiwinger becomes the new North Carolina-based safety engineer at Conti Civil, LLC.
-
- Amy Andrews, Jon Fountain join Russell Marine, LLC as project managers; Jon transitions to the role following his summer internship and Amy is a recent SHSU grad from the Houston area.
-
- John Hayes is promoted to Director of Business Development at Equipment Corporation of America, Mike Roberts succeeds him as Branch Manager in Jacksonville, FL. Elsewhere, Chris Horne elevates to service manager at ECA Canada.
-
- Shane Pass joins Hammer & Steel as sales engineer for Kansas, Nebraska and Iowa; meantime at St. Louis HQ, Thillini Coldagelli, CPA onboards as new assistant corporate controller.
-
- Jebb Stone is appointed new director of business development at JD Fields & Company, Inc. Also, Aaron Bunting named new regional manager Pacific Northwest for the steel supplier.
-
- Dee Powers, SHRM-SCP named new VP of HR at American Engineering Testing (AET).
-
- Oscar Merida onboards at ECS Limited in Virginia, elsewhere Jared Pitts and Dave Atteberry take positions in the firm's Florida offices.
-
- Mark H. Westra, a principal at GZA GeoEnvironmental, is elected to its board of directors while associate principal Margaret A. Panatera wins a second three-year term.
-
- Sarvesh Khanna and Mayank Jeswani bring new marine and ports experience to the team at Houston-based Lloyd Engineering, Inc.
-
- Lori Cathcart is new director of corporate responsibility at Terracon, responsible for developing and implementing internal corporate sustainability strategies, policies and procedures.
Recognitions:
- Sherri Pearson, training coordinator at Cajun Industries, LLC, led instruction at the Construction Site Safety Technician course in Baton Rouge; Cajun sponsored 12 graduates. Elsewhere, company pile driver foremen Austin Thompson, Jeremy Quibodeaux complete a leadership course.
-
- Daniel Fowler, VP at J. Fletcher Creamer & Son, Inc., was a panelist at an Aug. 4 discussion on offshore wind, coordinated by the New Jersey Alliance For Action.
-
- Charles Ernest of Jordan Pile Driving in Mobile, AL, and his wife Shelbey welcomed twins Collins and Carson Ernest on July 29, 2022, congratulations!
-
- Delfino Perez and Ethan Bonilla of McCarthy Building Co. have been integral to major Houston-area pile driving projects. The company named them Craft Professionals of the Year.
-
- Julia LaRochelle (Scott), E.I.T. is committed to sustainable engineering; the Haley & Aldrich associate was elected president of the N.H. chapter of Engineers Without Borders.
-
- Daniel Fowler, VP at J. Fletcher Creamer & Son, Inc., was a panelist at an Aug. 4 discussion on offshore wind, coordinated by the New Jersey Alliance For Action.
-
- Michael Weekley, P.E. of Infrastructure Consulting & Engineering, PLLC contributed photography to illustrate a story about South Carolina infrastructure in APWA magazine.
-
- Tammie Berry reaches 33 years at the Panama City offices and Lewis Copeland makes 31 years in the corporate headquarters in Mobile at Southern Earth Sciences.
-
- Mark DeSouza, a South Carolina project manager at Thomas & Hutton, earns promotion to Lieutenant Colonel in the U.S. Army Reserves.
In sympathy:
- Dennis "Bo" Dean, a pile driver for more than 40 years at Foundation Constructors in Fontana, CA, has passed. He installed piles for some of Southern California's iconic buildings and bridges. His colleagues consider Bo, along with his trademark mustache and suspenders, as an inspiration to generations of pile drivers.
|
|
- Bowen Engineering Corporation has a team in West Lafayette, IN building a new 1.7 million gallon CSO storage tunnel to reduce outfall to the Tippecanoe River. Among other services, it is installing steel sheet piling with hammers from Hercules Machinery Corp.
-
- H.B. Fleming, Inc. crews drive steel sheets for a 350-foot seawall north of Boston. The job also involves installation of 400 H-piles, 125 feet to bedrock, for a residential building in Revere, MA.
-
- Morris-Shea Bridge Co. grabs a big piece of Tennessee's burgeoning EV industry and will install foundations at the new campus of Blue Oval City, originally bid as a drill job. DeWaal piles and caps won out and will found five of six buildings on the six square mile site near Memphis where Ford will produce the next generation of F-150 Lightning, all-electric pickups.
-
- PRECO-MSE didn't venture too far from its Vaudreul, Quebec office to begin work installing close to 500 H-piles. Their Junttan PM16 was tapped to lead the work on the future shoring.
-
- Poseidon Dredge & Marine will perform demo work and installation of a new seawall and concrete floating docks for the new Las Olas Marina in the Ft. Lauderdale waterfront.
-
- R. Kremer & Son Marine Contractors, LLC reports that it is fully equipped for the variety of marine construction services it provides, including all the infrastructure shown along New Jersey's Barnegat Bay, in this photo of their newly refurbished, sixth barge in the company fleet.
-
- The Great Lakes Construction Company has spent much of 2022, including winter months, with limited marine operations, replacing a mining industry cargo dock on the Cuyahoga River near Cleveland. The scope has involved installation of sheet piling for a 700-foot bulkhead as well as concrete piles. Foundation crews used an ICEInternational Construction Equipment 50B.
-
- American Piledriving Equipment sent its 300-6 vibro to a Nebraska DOT bridge replacement project. After the urgent request, Jake Palmer, Logan Hoffman and Gregg Ripperden sprang to action for set up, and worked the weekend at the Scribner jobsite.
-
- Junttan USA sent Florida tech Luke Karr to the job site for a Kent, WA highway expansion where a project team performs ground improvement through a timber pile installation. Elsewhere, see an aerial view of the PM16 driving timber in Westhampton Beach, NY.
-
- Geoquip, Jinnings Equipment machines enable the expansion at Arlington National Cemetery as Kokosing Construction builds retaining walls and shoring along its perimeter.
-
- Lloyd Engineering, Inc. contributes design, permitting and construction management services to the development of Freeport LNG Dock 2 in Houston.
-
- Thomas & Hutton is retained in a new industrial development called Seaport 16 Trade Center near Savannah, GA. The firm will perform a variety of engineering services at the 797-acre site.
|
|
Jacksonville Daily Record covers the grand re-opening of the Jacksonville Beach Pier, which was put out of service following two hurricanes dating back to 2016. Area mayors and other municipal officials cut the ribbon on the $11.6M Hal Jones Contractor project, a staple of North Florida tourism.
Construction Equipment Guide carries coverage of Company Wrench and the Operator for a Day event.
Engineering News Record-Southeast recognizes ECS Southeast, LLP as Design Firm of the Year, profiles recent growth and expanding national prominence of the firm. |
|
School's back and students everywhere are reporting summer break highlights. Heidi Danbrook's daughters may be talking about their trip to Colorado, where they joined mom as she exhibited for Gilbert Products at a trade show. Hey, mom, if you take them to San Diego in February for the PDCA Annual Conference, they'll learn A LOT about pile driving and even get to miss some days of school!
You know it's all about those boats in the marine construction sector. McCarthy Building Companies grew its marine fleet with an unmanned survey vessel to enhance underwater operations; they debuted it on social media with this photo near some PC/PS concrete piles. In other waters, the Navy's newly commissioned USS Fort Lauderdale hitched a ride from a Poseidon Dredge & Marine tug boat, to make its way to Port Everglades for a summer commissioning. Ahoy!
Once for equines, now it's fine wines Matt Bullinger at Company Wrench launched a side hustle with his 1970s-era horse trailer. Now called The Rustic Trotter, the double-axle cart has been tastefully retrofitted into a mobile bar, available for weddings or other events that beverages might enhance. PDCA Chapters get a quote from Matt for your next event!
PDCA thanks the numerous company spokespeople and other personnel who helped provide us the news you've just read. We do our best to glean the information we distribute directly from your web or social media sites, but there are times when we need a little more detail to develop the most concise notes found in A Pile of News. This distribution required us to do more outreach than usual. Thanks for taking our calls and responding to our emails!
The unofficial end of summer is upon us and many of you are gearing up for a long Labor Day weekend. PDCA salutes its many laborers and wishes all of you a safe and enjoyable holiday weekend. |
|
Copyright © 2022 Pile Driving Contractors Association, All rights reserved.
You are receiving this email because you are an industry leader in the piling community and
may be a member of the Pile Driving Contractors Association. |
|
|
|
|
