(L-R) Kenneth Gollon and The Walsh Group, Kylie Beadle of LA-DOTD, Rich Northfield and Lally Pipe & Tube

New member growth at PDCA continues through the second quarter of 2024. While some of the names are familiar and have previous PDCA experience, others are first-timers to participate in collective advocacy, exclusively for the driven pile. The organization extends a big welcome to the following new members:

 

New member West Coast Spiral Pipe shares a photo of the company's 2017 ribbon cutting ceremony in Rialto, CA

Shana Carroll interviews with Baltimore media during fundraiser she co-organized for victims of 2024 Key Bridge collapse

Shana Carroll, P.E., LEED AP BDC, is the president of D.W. Kozera, Inc., a Maryland-based geotechnical consulting firm specializing in deep foundations and marine construction on pivotal East Coast projects like Tradepoint Atlantic's new container terminal in Baltimore. Her previous experience includes four years with Geosyntec Consultants, where she specialized in geotechnical instrumentation and worked on projects such as the Cherry Island Landfill Expansion, followed by 14 years with GeoStructures, doing pre-construction work in the ground improvement sector on projects such as the Tappan Zee Bridge abutments.

Carroll sat down with PileDriver magazine to discuss how she almost didn't become an engineer; the transition from geotechnical construction to consulting; her approach to leadership; the workforce challenges across the entire industry; and more.

Click here to continue reading The Interview with Shanna Carroll in PileDriver magazine, Issue #3-2024:

PDCA partners and past technical presenters, (L-R) Brad Keelor, Silas Nichols, Mohamad Hussein, Jerry DiMaggio, Daniel Alzamora, rock PDCA cowboy hats at IFCEE 2024

If you attended IFCEE 2024 (International Foundations Congress and Equipment Expo) in May, in Dallas, TX, hopefully, you received a special-issue PDCA cowboy hat. If you did, hang on to that hat because you're going to need it for the next PDCA Annual Conference in February 2025. Why? Because it will also be in Texas, of course! 

While there is no formal function planned at this time for an attendee cowboy hat display at the Annual Conference, ten-gallon's are always encouraged in the Lone Star State. (They're standard issue for much of Texas law enforcement, cowboys, western enthusiasts, and more.) Just make sure to remove your hat if you sneak away from the conference to visit the sacred grounds of the nearby Alamo, it's only respectful...and among the rules for visitors.

Right now, we can tell you that the annual gathering of the driven pile industry takes place at the J.W. Marriott Hill Country Resort from February 4-6, 2025. It will include a golf outing, standing committee meetings, a trade show, a variety of educational, technical, and professional development presentations, and the annual awards program showcasing the winners of the 2024 Project of the Year Awards and Association Awards.

Mark you calendars now, and watch your inbox and PDCA publications for more information, coming soon.

(L-R) PDCA Pres. Brian Heck, PDCA E.D. Frank Peters at a 2024 Board of Directors meeting. The Board directed the implementation of The PDCA Connection

Have you heard of The PDCA Connection? More importantly, have you experienced The PDCA Connection? 

This is a new, association management system that PDCA has implemented to manage member accounts, event registrations, new member enrollments, Chapter functionality, PDCA Committee business, The PDCA Store, and anything else that involves member engagement. The best part for you is that accessing everything PDCA is now available with just one login, in one place, with around-the-clock availability. The days of navigating different websites to participate in PDCA are coming to an end.

You are encouraged to login to your PDCA member account through the 'member login' button in the upper righthand corner of the PDCA homepage, www.piledrivers.org. Then, you will need to create a new password for your PDCA member account. Once you have submitted your new password and received confirmation of the change, return to the PDCA homepage. Now, login using your email address and new password. This will take you to your member account in The PDCA Connection. You will notice that your profile already contains general data that you are welcome to modify.

It is very important to understand that there are two types of accounts in The PDCA Connection: Organization accounts are the PDCA member company accounts that can be managed only by your company's primary representative to PDCA. There are also Individual accounts. These are for all the individuals who are representatives of PDCA member companies. Please make yourself familiar with your account and your company account as the information contained in them will be extracted to fill the 2025 PDCA Membership Directory. You don't want to be misidentified in this annual, important industry resource.

To take a deeper dive into The PDCA Connection, make sure and read the Executive Director's Message in Issue #3-2024 of PileDriver magazine where PDCA's Frank Peters goes into great detail about the many benefits and functionality this system brings to PDCA and its members. Click the button below to be redirected to the full article:

An unofficial kickoff to the summer happens at the offices of Foundation in Oakley, CA each year, when practitioners in the deep foundations industry attend the annual Horseshoe Tournament in the contractor's gardenesque back yard. The event is equal parts serious competition, networking, and family fun. Congratulations to the 2024 winners and thanks to all participants and attendees of the event.

Foundation sends a special thanks to the sponsors who help make the Horseshoe Tournament possible, many of whom are PDCA member companies. Those include Nucor Skyline, Hammer & Steel, GRL Engineers, Inc., Independent Pipe, PILECO, Inc., and McNeil, Silveira, Rice & Wiley.

PDCA thanks longtime member Foundation and the event sponsors for highlighting the deep foundations industry.

Jenny Ellis and Kyle Yarbrough from CPS Houston participate in 2023 golf event

Virtual learning, committee meetings, two technical conferences, a golf tournament, a clay shoot, Chapter meetings, two scholarships to be awarded, and a leadership election add up to a busy finish to 2024 at PDCA. Watch you inbox, PDCA social media, and this website for forthcoming registration information for several of these opportunities, meantime, save the following dates and plan to attend as many of the events that will enhance your industry knowledge and facilitate further PDCA engagement:

2024