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A Pile of News: August 2025

 A briefing on news and information from the pile driving contractors, associated manufacturers, construction suppliers and affiliated engineers who comprise PDCA.
By Matt Bisbee, PDCA
 
Originally sent Aug. 1, 2025

Top of the Pile

• The 2025 Project of the Year Award winners are exclusively revealed in the August PileDriver magazine. (APON signed an NDA with PileDriver, so WE can't publish the results yet.) Congratulations to the winning PDCA members!
• It's On The PDCA Driven Pile Academy is scheduled to run Nov. 1014, 2025, at Port Bienville, MS, as originally planned. Register TODAY.
• The 2025 Atlantic hurricane season continues through Nov. 30, as many communities are still recovering from past years' storms. ESP Associates,which serves much of the southeast, developed unique FIMAN technology that has helped communities reduce flood losses.

From the Association & Chapters

Mark your calendars:

• Aug. 1 (TODAY): TX Chapter 2026 Scholarship applications DUE.
• Aug. 14: South Carolina Chapter dinner meeting, Charleston, 69 PM  Attend the quarterly event at the Town & Country Inn and Suites for an evening of networking, an industry program and buffet-style dinner.
• Aug. 28: Gulf Coast Chapter dinner meeting, Biloxi, 5:308 PM  Members and guests will gather at The Golden Nugget Biloxi Hotel for networking, dinner, a business meeting and industry program. 
• Sept. 9: Florida Chapter Golf Tournament, Rosen Shingle Creek, Orlando, FL  It's the inaugural golf outing for PDCA's newest chapter. Registration opens at 11 AM, scramble play begins at 12:30 PM. Foursomes and sponsorships are still available. Golf event concludes at DICEP opening reception.
• Sept. 910: 2025 DICEP Conference, Rosen Shingle Creek, Orlando, FL  Attend for a full day of technical presentations, PDH available. Includes a capacity trade show and networking opportunities. Sponsorships available.
• Sept. 23: Texas Chapter Annual Golf Tournament, Mont Belvieu, TX  Golf with your industry colleagues and friends at a fun and competitive outing at Eagle Pointe Golf Club; sponsorships and exhibit tents are available.

From the piledrivers.org blog:

• Florida Chapter members met for another "Networking Night" on July 24, this time in Orlando. It's part of an ongoing membership drive conducted through sponsored receptions in population hubs.
• The Seattle Social was also July 24, it marked PDCA's first function in the Pacific Northwest in several years. Members and others from the regional driven pile industry enjoyed a FREE reception, thanks to nine different sponsors.
• The PDCA Communications Committee has a new chair; Brian Heck accepted the appointment, which follows his unprecedented three terms as PDCA president. Read about his notable history in the organization.

WINNER: Congratulations, Eustis Engineering, you are this month's winner! Send an email to marian@piledrivers.org before the end of August to claim your prize!

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News from PDCA Companies

Acquisitions & expansions:

• Geo-Technology Associates, Inc. adds a Philadelphia office to further serve Pennsylvania. VP Robert Howard, P.E., will helm Philly Quakertown.
• Haley & Aldrich opens its newest office in White Plains, NY.
• UES adds to its robust portfolio in the civil engineering sector through the purchase of Gainesville, FL-based Geohazards Engineering and Geology.

Giving back:

• Commerce Construction Corp. supports the next generation of civil engineers through participation in golf fundraisers for student scholarships that took place in a hot southeastern PA and southern NJ region.
• McCarthy Building Companies continued supporting patients at the Austin and Houston campuses of Texas Children's Hospital. Staff delivered care packages with children's activities to young patients admitted this summer.
• The Great Lakes Construction Company drew more than 40 employees and families to join The Longest Day walk to the Solstice Steps in Lakewood, OH. It's a grassroots component of the national fight to End Alzheimer's.
• Weeks Marine staff in Houston joined a local fire dept. to help collect, and load trucks with emergency provisions for Texas flood victims. Edgen Murray sent relief through matched donations from employees and contractors. And CZM Foundation Equipment is collecting the 10 top items that victims need. Many other PDCA members have also sent support.

Recognitions: 

• Blue Iron Foundations & Shoring is noted for environmental stewardship: ENR writes about its eco-friendly piling by using Giken equipment on a New Orleans flood control job near Lake Pontchartrain. Also, 4ocean PBC lauds its commitment to end the ocean plastic crisis.
• Foundation is a 2024 R.E.A.L. Safety Award Winner, an honor from United Contractors that represents union-affiliated shops in the Western U.S.
• Power Engineering Construction won an international design award for the Seaplane Lagoon Ferry Terminal in Alameda, CA. Work involved PSC and steel pile installation. The design ensures durability in seismic and tidal conditions.
• American Equipment & Fabricating rented the pile hammer seen on Providence, RI, CBS-TV. It hung from a crane mobilized on the demo/rebuild of the Washington Bridge. Semper Diving has an underwater scope for this job.
• Simpson Gumpertz & Heger (SGH) won the Award of Excellence from an engineering group for its work designing a foundation upgrade for San Francisco's Millennium Tower that addresses deficiencies and reverses tilting.

Governmental relations:

• California contractors reportedly win relief from cash flow challenges caused by excessive retention withholding on private construction. Gov. Newsom signed a law, effective Jan. 1, 2026, which will cap retention at 5%.
• Miami-Dade County (FL) seawall builders can expect less red tape when pulling permits. Comm. Higgins' initiative won full support from County Commissioners and streamlines permitting while promoting "environmentally innovative designs." UES supported the reform.
• Kokosing, The Walsh Group formed the JV building the Brent Spence Bridge, connecting Cincinnati, OH, and Covington, KY. A PR campaign for the billion-dollar project features Governors DeWine and Beshear, heightening attention on the PDCA members. Work is expected to require pipe and H-pile installation.
• Ardaman & Associates, ECS, Terracon and TRC Companies sponsored a Lafayette, LA, lunch meeting for regional engineers. Jerry Outlaw of Ardaman reports the July meeting featured a legislative update from State Rep. Spell.
• D.W. Kozera president Shana Carroll participated in a meeting with Baltimore City Commissioner Kennedy who spoke on initiatives of interest to builders.

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People on the Move

Transitions:

• Don Dolly, a veteran of the driven pile industry, has been named new president at Foundation in Oakley, CA. He previously led the company from 200512.
• Mitchell Moses, Siraj Sheriff, and Matt Kawamura are new project leaders in the commercial unit at Hawaiian Dredging Construction Company.
• Steve Thomas, one of its first employees, retires after 36 years at Chesapeake, VA-based MEB.
• Candi Stegall is named VP at Parker Marine Contracting Corp. in Charleston, SC, a move pres. Kent Parker says is "vital to continued success."
• Kyrsten Garcia elevates to senior executive assistant at Russell Marine LLC. Her new role includes increased strategic support and staff mentorship.
• Eric Ritchie succeeds Herb Sargent, who retired July 21 as president and CEO at Orono, ME-based Sargent. Herb becomes chairman of the board.
• Matt Richards, Jake Mitrisin and Connor Blum are former summer co-op students who earned full-time employment as project engineers at Hinckley, OH-based The Great Lakes Construction Company.
• Shauna Carpenter is the newest project manager/estimator at Aggregate Technologies, Inc. in Houston, TX.
• Shane Belvin is the new branch manager at the newly relocated Annville, KY, location of CZM-US Foundation Equipment.
• Julle Vawter rises to marketing specialist at Locke Solutions in Houston, TX.
• Mark Jones, Emanuel Gutierrez join the inside sales team at Lodge Lumber.
• Kevin Wood retires as VP from Dewberry; read his social media farewell.
• Andrew Banas purchased Robert Miner Dynamic Testing, Inc. from proprietor Bert Miner, who opened the Seattle firm in 1999. Bert is reducing his workload.
• Amy Nguyễn joins Shannon & Wilson in Seattle as geotechnical engineer.

Recognitions:

• Jon Elkins, a supt. at Beaver Excavating Company, celebrates 50 years at the Canton, OK-based contractor; colleagues consider him "inspiring to all".
• Shawn Coughlin, P.E., an NJ-based project executive at Keller, is the company's newest inductee to The Moles heavy construction organization.
• Andrew Harris, GM at Lodge Lumber Co. in Houston, TX, announces on his Huffing-a-ton video report, that July brought his first-born. Congrats, dad!
• Cathy Aimone-Martin, Ph.D., president at Aimone-Martin and Associates, is a recognized expert in vibrations studies and frequent PDCA presenter. This year, she earned the President's Award at the International Society of Explosives Engineers, which also honored her for Second Paper of the Year.
• Rafal Wojcik, P.E., of Dewberry is the ASCE-NJ Young Engineer of the Year.
• Jonathan Ernst, P.E., from Geosciences Testing and Research in Lowell, MA, served as head judge at the 2025 ASCE Concrete Canoe Competition.
• Zachary Boswell, P.E., and Justin Dominguez from SGH, earn board certification from the Academy of Geo-Professionals.
• Gerard Buechel celebrates 45 years at Shannon & Wilson. The current SVP in Seattle is a past president who began as a geotechnical engineer.
• Aidan Osmanovic wins the 2025 Heron Wolf Civil Engineering Scholarship. Notably, he's also a recognized scholar-athlete at Manhattan University.

In sympathy:

• James (Jim) Schnabel, 19302025: The founder of the nearly 70-year-old Schnabel Engineering passed away on July 3. He is remembered for having the "courage and passion" to found a pioneering geotechnical engineering firm in Washington, D.C., in 1956. Watch the longtime Maryland resident reflect on his career in a 2016 video interview with Geotechnical Business Association.
• Peggy Wadsworth, 19342025: She supported her late husband Ralph and their sons as they built Ralph L. Wadsworth Construction Company decades ago. It grew into a powerhouse Draper, UT-based contracting firm. Peggy was the matriarch, embraced by family and RLW staff. She passed on July 1.

On the Job

Bowen Engineering Corporation is underway on one of its largest projects to date. Crews use ICE, Inc. hammers to install steel sheet and H-piles from Nucor Skyline as they work to expand the wastewater treatment plant for Cedar Rapids, IA.

East Coast Marine Construction & Design installed 32 pin piles from Meever USA, each 70 feet long, to stabilize a sheet pile wall at Lake Eustis in Central Florida.

Orion scored $67M in new marine projects, including a dock replacement in Washington. Crews will begin removing the existing Berth A at the Longview Export Dock, then replace it with a new structure on large-diameter steel piles.

Sealevel Construction Inc. works on a project west of New Orleans. The Sunset Screen Cleaner Project involves installation of timber, concrete and steel sheet piling, as well as load testing on the PSC.

SUS rehabilitates the Wicomico River Bridge in Salisbury, MD. Crews drive steel pipe from Nucor Skyline with a GeoQuip HPSI vibro. Koppers supplies new timber.

Vecellio & Grogan won an FDOT contract to remove and replace a bridge on Florida's Turnpike in Martin County. Crews will drive 86 24" concrete piles. About 200 miles north of there, the contractor will replace the fishing pier at Flagler Beach.

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Notes from the Field

Channeling 1980's pop culture enthusiasts  Giant seagulls > Flock of Seagulls. And through clever photography, Equipment Corporation of America might agree, because their photo captured just one big bird. ECA staff shared the pic to social media to promote a GeoQuip-HPSI 250XL installing steel sheets at an undisclosed location. Maybe it's a future La Isla Bonita?

Miracle on Ice  Sports fans, movie buffs and historians recall the heroics of the USA Olympic hockey team when it stunned the Soviet Union for the Gold Medal in 1980. Apex Steel Pipe & Piling honored the game's legacy in its unique internship program.

• This reminds us: At 2020 GeoCongress, Van Komurka of GRL Engineers, who has significant connection to the legendary team, 'completed the circle' when he met Team USA's forward Dave Christian; they stood for a photo (below).

He got Slimed! It's probably not what Paris J. Du Vernay III, E.I., expects from the "real world." The staff intern at Premier Geotech and Testing is pursuing an M.S. at LSU. When he completed summer exams that he reportedly "aced" his colleagues chose humiliation for the celebration. Congrats to an industry up-and-comer!

Out of Africa  Kevin and Benjamin Gourgues are back from a father/son hunting trip to South Africa where they successfully harvested zebra, springbok, wildebeest and memories to last a lifetime, from fertile grasslands. The president of Patriot Construction & Industrial and his son did not bring back the recipe for chicken-fried zebra. Apparently not even Louisianans like it! Benjamin is an incoming freshman at Nichols State University, where he is a football team walk-on. Kickoffs start in August!

Thanks for reading  Send us your news that you want to read right here, we will be back in your inbox on Sept. 1.

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