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A Pile of News: September 2026

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 Sept. 1, 2026

Top of the pile:

Congratulations! The following PDCA member companies won 2026 Project of the Year Awards. Read about every project in PileDrivermagazine.:

• Lynnhaven Marine and Dock, Inc. for Boat Harbor Treatment Plant Transmission Force Main Section 2
• Forefront Deep Foundations, I-5 Segment 7 Batiquitos Lagoon Double Track
• Cajun Industries, LLC for La Reusitte to Myrtle Grove Levee Project
• Cajun Industries, LLC for CSX 2 Mile Gulf Coast Hardening Project
• R.E. Pierson Construction Co. for DRBA Ship Collision Protection System
• Texas Pile, LLC for DFW Battery Recycling Center Floodwall & Vertical Cutoff Sheet Pile Wall
• Richard Goettle, Inc. for Irishtown Bend Stabilization
• PND Engineers, Inc. for Port of Kansas City Gov. Michael L. Parson Port Terminal Rebuild
• Orion for Grand Bahama Dry Dock Replacement Design-Build

Where do you stand? Data center construction is expected to triple globally by 2033, becoming a $662.7B industry; North America owns 41% of that, according to one analysis. Heavy construction is in high demand in this market. But data centers are blamed for rising costs of construction materials and manufacturing costs. November's elections have politicians taking sides. Tell us your thoughts about data centers.

From the Association & Chapters

Mark your calendars:

• Sept. 22: Texas Chapter Golf Tournament, Wildcat Golf Club, Houston. It's filling up fast, so secure your registration today. Sponsorships are available. Student scholarships will be awarded after golf.
• Oct. 1: South Carolina Chapter Fall Happy Hour, Holy City Brewing, Charleston, 6 PM. Save the date watch your inbox for registration/sponsorship info, coming soon.
• Oct. 8: Value Driven Webinar Series, virtual, 2:00 PM. Nick Kloenne, PE and Cody Schappacher, PE, project managers at Richard Goettle, Inc., present Securing the Cuyahoga: The Combi-Wall That Holds Irishtown Bend.
• Oct. 15: Gulf Coast Chapter Dinner, Golden Nugget, Biloxi, 5:45 PM. Free to attend enjoy networking, dinner and a presentation. Sponsorships available.
• Oct. 19-21: Deep Foundations Dynamic Testing & Analysis, Cleveland. This includes a seminar, workshop and proficiency test, offered through a partnership between PDCA and Pile Dynamics, Inc. Thirteen PDH available.
• Oct. 23: 2026 ASCE Buchanan Lecture, Bryan, TX. Attend two distinguished lectures at Texas A&M University. Dr. Youssef Hashash presents on AI in geotechnical engineering, and Dr. Rodolfo Sancio gives a state-of-the-practice update.
• Nov. 2-5: DFI Annual Conference, Hyatt Regency, Orlando. The program explores mitigating rising sea levels. PDCA is a cooperating organization.

From the PDCA Blog:

• Next-gen: West Coast students pursuing higher ed for construction careers earn generous investment through Pacific Coast Chapter Scholarship Program.
• Nothing but dust See coverage and photos from the Northeast Chapter Sporting Clays Shoot last month.
• Start your holiday shopping here See what's new in The PDCA Store.
• Never too much love! Congratulations to the winners of the 2026 Project of the Year Awards.

Congratulations, Braeden Hamilton, you are this month's winner! Email marian@piledrivers.org before the end of September to claim your prize.

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Acquisitions & expansions:

• Boh Bros. Construction, already entrenched in Florida projects, sets up a stateside shop. The New Orleans builder's newest branch is in Celebration, FL.
• D.A. Collins Family of Companies purchased Array Foundation Services of Wilton, NY, enhancing thier geotechnical and solar farm construction services.
• Taylor Marine Construction opens a new commercial vessel repair and haul-out facility next to the Houston Ship Channel. It features a 660-ton Travelift.
• Junttan grows U.S. rental inventory in Laurel, DE, with a PM25H pile driving rig.
• Kingdom Pipe & Steel adds steel fabrication services. Construction of the new shop is underway at its Brenham, TX, headquarters.
• Anchor QEA opened a physical office in Norfolk, VA, a result of its significant history supporting public and private projects in the region.

Recognitions:

• Manson Construction earns ENR West honors for a specialty construction project, and Shimmick is named ENR West, Northwest Contractor of the Year.
• Vecellio & Grogan PM Eric Jackson appeared on News4Jax T.V. from the Met Park Marina grand opening. His crews used vibros to install steel sheets and pipe from Nucor Skyline. They also supported Bellingham Marine installations on the new Downtown Jacksonville waterfront asset.
• The Walsh Group credits two Chicago project teams for problem-solving. One was renovating Hyatt Regency McCormick Place and needed to scrap furniture. The other team took the good pieces to use in its rebuild of a homeless shelter.
• Patriot Construction & Industrial surpassed 200K safe work hours at its Venture Global LNG project.

Giving back:

• CIANBRO participated in an industry initiative in Maine to expose teens to construction careers, including hosting students at their fabrication shop.
• Kokosing co-ops built interior walls for Habitat for Humanity homes in Ohio.
• Weeks Marine employees in Hawaii volunteered labor at an Oahu educational farm to promote sustainable agriculture, land stewardship and more.
• Apex Steel Pipe & Piling offers the Ray Yarbrough Scholarship. With help from Ray's son Kyle at CPS Houston, they subsidize welding school for Houston high school students. The 2026 recipients are Jose Rocha and Miguel Lopez.
• Bell Lumber and Pole Co. interns volunteered at a Minneapolis social service where they pulled weeds, turned compost and tended the chickens.
• SGH supported the inSTEM teen summer camp at DePaul in Chicago and helped teens use sweet treats to simulate structural engineering and load testing.

Government relations:

• Sargent observes 100 years in business and U.S. Sen. Collins of Maine memorialized the milestone in the Congressional Record. The entry describes the company's humble start. Concurrently, retiring board chair Herb Sargent promotes his new book about company history; get it on Amazon.
• Atlas Tube personnel met with U.S. Rep. LaHood after he toured the Rochelle, IL, factory. Local news coverage notes the parties discussed data centers.
• Nucor honors West Virginia U.S. Sen. Capito as the Woman of Steel. Elsewhere, their St. Louis facility hosted U.S. Rep. Bell for a tour.

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Transitions:

• Brian Francis is promoted to VP at Cleveland-based Beaver Excavating Co. His appointment relocates him to Columbus, where he's the new market lead.
• Jennifer Petro joins Commerce Construction in corporate compliance.
• Ben Bleiler rises to senior project engineer at MEB in Richmond, VA.
• Sean Francis, an industry veteran, becomes dive operations manager at Orion. Eddie Gary is a new structural engineer for the constructor; he is also the captain of Troublemaker, a national champion sailing team.
• Marty Swain retires after a 40-year career with Parker Marine Contracting in Charleston, SC. Sources say he spends time eating popsicles with his grandson.
• Braden Ford rejoins Russell Marine as assistant PM in Houston.
• Drew Phillips joins Shimmick Corp. in California as the new VP of Finance.
• Simon Plested was warmly remembered for 27 years of amazing service and exceptional craftsmanship at Dawson Construction Plant; he retired in July.
• Jeff Bonacci becomes senior associate and construction services department manager in Pennsylvania for Dewberry.
• Joshua Hutchinson, PE, returns to manage Eustis Engineering in Houston.
• Sean Oroho, PE, SE, elevates to principal at H&H, where he manages western ops from Denver. Also, Joe King, PE, PMP, becomes New York structures manager and senior PM.
• Yushin Imura, PE, joins Original Survey Solutions in California as VP, Growth.
• Colin McCracken, PE, LG, is a new Terracon testing manager in Portland, OR.

Recognitions:

• Ryan Lawrence from Beaty Construction is honored as 2026 Outstanding Craftsperson by the Coalition for Construction Safety .
• Rich Aubin, an "integral part of the D.A. Collins family since 2012," reached 60 years with the IUOE Local 158 in Albany, NY. We know he's reading!
• Darren Riddle of Foundation Constructors explains in August ENR the procurement of Nucor Skyline pipe piles for his crews to drive in a water treatment system upgrade at San Francisco's Airport. Walsh is GC.
• Ryan Sawall, PE, the central region CEO for McCarthy Building Cos., served as a panelist at a St. Louis meeting centered on employee ownership.
• Luke Dinkels wrote an essay about the innovative collision protection system that Richard E. Pierson Construction built for the Delaware Memorial Bridge (a PDCA POY Award winner!) The Rowan University junior and his fellow intern Logan Lainhart (UD) won $2,500 Pierson Charities Essay Scholarships.
• Richard Greer started as a laborer at Scott Bridge Company in 1986. Now a general superintendent, he celebrates 40 years with the Alabama builder.
• Wyatt Leadens from AET in South Dakota, and Audrey Norlien and Juan Guerrero in Minnesota, earn their PE licenses.
• Shana Carroll, PE, president at D.W. Kozera, Inc. in Baltimore, was named to The Daily Record list of 2026 Influential Marylanders.
• Shane Smith of Fugro, Dr. Rodolfo Sancio of Geosyntec Consultants and William "Bill" Bruin of SGH constitute the panel for a Houston discussion about reducing marine construction risk during the IMAGE Event last month.
• Michael Seay-Parker, Erin Keefe of Thomas & Hutton in South Carolina and Will Wallace in Georgia earn PE licensure. Wallace joins UG Alumni Board.

In sympathy:

• Kenneth "Kenny" Wolf (19472026) spent 53 years in Louisiana construction. A senior account executive at Baker GCI when he passed, one colleague said the "industry won't be the same" without him. Kenny is survived by his wife of 59 years, Kathy, and a large family. An ardent fan of LSU sports, he answered to "Tiger."
• John "Jack" Armand Hayes (19372026) passed away last month. Surviving him are his loving wife Sally Anne, son John (of ECA) and two grandchildren. Jack was a trailblazing geotechnical engineer who founded Loadtest, where he developed testing technology that impacted foundation construction.
• J. Michael Duncan, Ph.D. led a distinguished career at UC-Berkeley before relocating east to build the geotechnical program at Virginia Tech.

American Pile and Foundation crews are driving Tapertubes from The Loren Group at New York's JFK Airport, using their Junttan rig. GZA GeoEnvironmental is performing the Dynamic Pile Testing for the $19B redevelopment project.

Commerce Construction Corp. won a U.S. Coast Guard contract for waterfront repair at its Staten Island, NY, installation. Base operations will continue during construction that involves rehabilitation of a seawall, docks, breakwaters and more.

Sealevel Construction crews build the first permanent pump station in St. Charles Parish, LA, for regional flood control. Meever USA supplied 482 tons of steel foundation elements, including coated sheet piling, pipe and connectors.

JD Fields & Co. is hosting the fourth Port Engineering Seminar with Port Tampa Bay on Sept. 23. SGH is among presenters. Breakfast, lunch and 3 PDH are available.

HighSpans Engineering won a contract funded through the State of Florida and local resources to rebuild shrimping infrastructure near Fort Myers that was demolished during Hurricane Ian. Gulf Coast News reports on the project that is underway.

S&ME remains on the front lines of Hurricane Helene recovery in South Carolina. It supported bridge construction at a Greenville state park, which exemplifies a resilience-focused transportation solution that could optimize modern bridge building.

Shannon & Wilson will provide geotechnical support on a $1.8B bridge replacement to modernize passage between Duluth, MN, and Superior, WI. Local media reports the project upgrades structure safety and includes a ship collision protection system.

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Notes from the Field

Why'd you come in here lookin' like that? A Ft. Myers TV newscast aired a photo of the groundbreaking for construction of a new public pier on the Florida beach. But two cranes and a PileMaster air hammer photobombed the shot; the Island Piling equipment was mobilized to build the foundation for a development on an adjacent lot.

Daddy's Working Boots A unique gift for staff who reach five years at Locke Solutions is a pair of custom work boots, complete with a professional design consultation. A new pair of boots is en route to ops manager Manny Paniagua.

Workin' Man Blues: A 40-year veteran surveyor, Dean Jurado at Original Survey Solutions in Modesto, CA, joined colleagues in a quality control exercise. They were testing the accuracy of their tape measures; Dean's tape missed the mark by 1 mm.

Courtesy of the Red, White and Blue should blast on job site speakers when this custom package GeoQuip, Inc. HPSI 250XL installs a pile. The manufacturer created the vibro for the Boston inventory at Equipment Corporation of America.

Make sure your company listing at PDCA is accurate! We will pull your data for the 2027 PDCA Membership Directory in October, so please update now.

Got news? We will broadcast member news updates to the industry through this publication and/or PileDriver magazine. Please send it to us. We are actively compiling the content for the October 1 A Pile of News. See you then...

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