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What we once considered normal no longer exists. The COVID-19 pandemic that has gripped the globe is requiring cancellations, postponements, closures, quarantines and a lot of questions for us all.
We will begin this edition of A Pile of News with guidance for employers and businesses from some of the PDCA member law firms in different parts of the U.S. that work extensively in construction, contracts and employment law because the current state of affairs presents challenges in each of these areas. Also pay close attention to the section From the Association and Chapters as various PDCA-affiliated and sponsored events have been forced to postpone or cancel. In the meantime, we encourage our membership to be safe, heed the precautions issued from federal, state, local governmental and medical leaders and contact the PDCA offices if we can assist you in any way. |
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| From the Association & Chapters |
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Due to ongoing, worldwide efforts to minimize human interaction and reduce opportunities for the highly contagious coronavirus to spread, many PDCA events scheduled for this spring have been either postponed or cancelled.
(The listing below is chronological and subject to additions; event news is regularly updated online at www.piledrivers.org/events/).
- PDCA: The Houston Social on April 9, POSTPONED
- Gulf Coast: Chapter Dinner Meeting on April 16, CANCELLED
- Pacific Coast Chapter: 10th Annual Scholarship Shoot on
April 17, POSTPONED
- Northeast Chapter: Dinner Meeting on April 22, CANCELLED
- PDCA: The Midwestern Meet-Up: Chicago on April 23, POSTPONED
- PDCA: 23rd Annual Conference on May 69, CANCELLED
- Northeast Florida Chapter: Quarterly Luncheon on May 19, CANCELLED
DFDTA, an annual pile testing, technical seminar from PDCA and Pile Dynamics, Inc. concluded March 13th in Orlando, FL. More information and photos from the event here.
Spotted: See photos of PDCA members at CONEXPO.
Spotted: See photos of PDCA Members at 2020 ASCE GeoCongress. |
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| Taking a break from COVID-19 news coverage from this point forward, this newsletter offers you nothing but good news from PDCA. See who has been promoted, which companies served the greater good and who gets 15 minutes of fame in the mainstream media. As always, we welcome your submissions to A Pile of News! |
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Acquisitions & Expansions
- First acquired in 2017, the integration of GME Consulting Services into Minneapolis-based Braun Intertec has formally completed.
- Engineering Consulting Services adds Solar Testing Laboratories of Cleveland to ECS Midwest, LLC
- Fugro strengthens geoconsulting presence in Belgium with purchase of OREX
- TRC Companies, Inc. opens its second office in the United Kingdom
Anniversaries
- AMERICAN SpiralWeld Pipe parent company AMERICAN celebrate 95 years in business
- GeoEngineers of Redmond, WA turns 40 this year
Dewberry Garden State Parkway Interchange project wins Distinguished Engineering Award.
Powell Foundations, Inc. in Ontario has been presented the ORBA Community Leadership Award.
Creative Pultrusions, Inc. of Pennsylvania participated in a Capitol Hill advocacy event.
TRC Companies, Inc., Tolunay-Wong Engineers and Texas A&M University partner to create hands-on learning opportunities outside the classroom.
New Member Shout-Out: Yes, Traxxon Foundation Equipment of British Columbia, posting a video of two dinosaurs in a snowball fight gets you a mention in this newsletter! |
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Dewberry promotes Anthony Fulco, P.E. in the New Jersey office to vice president; other promotions at the firm include Lisa Peterson, Steven Benosky, Walter Bronson, Jr. and Rahul Pareb. ECS appoints Gregory Ratkowski as principal engineer in Frederinck, MD. Golder welcomes back Peter Guy who returns to the Denver office after six years. Haley & Aldrich adds Jarrod Yoder to Boston office and Steven Boyce in Nevada.
Plenty of personnel news from Pittsburgh-based Koppers... General Counsel Steve Lacy sets retirement for the end of 2020, Stephanie Apostolou elected to fill his role; new leadership appointments are Lance Hyde to director global inclusion and diversity and Jimmi Sue Smith is named new VP finance and treasurer.
Captain Terry of Canal Barge Company, Inc. retires after 43 years in the maritime industry. His colleagues gathered to celebrate his career with the theme #JonesActStrong.
Other notes of interest:
AET's Willy Morrison is recognized by Finance & Commerce as a finalist in the inaugural Top Women in Construction Awards and Adam Bakeman earns 40 under 40 recognition.
Clark Construction VP Tim Lamson, Nashville, in the ENR Southeast 2020 class of Top Young Professionals.
Dewberry AVP Tony Buitrago named to Society of American Military Engineers Class of 2020 Fellows.
Michael Batuna of ECS in Dallas named 2020 Texas Engineer of the Year.
Jeff Harmston of Equipment Corporation of America repeats as winner of a national award in the deep foundations industry.
Dennis Loh, VP and principal in charge at Geo-Technology Associates, Inc.'s Somerset office, is a proud new grandpa following the birth of Cassidy Grace, [photo]. Congratulations!
Paul Dittrich, senior geotechnical engineer at Golder, was recently recognized by the Canadian Geotechnical Society for his distinguished career and his decades of service.
Jim Tanner of L.B. Foster has earned the Patriot Award from the U.S. Department of Defense, recognizing him for hiring Coast Guard Reservists.
Paul Bass of Houston-based Orion Marine Group has obtained Construction Health and Safety Technician (CHST) certification.
Sarah Knapp, a marketing specialist at Terracon in Salt Lake City, recently won the Rising Star Award. |
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Clark Construction raises more than $22,000 in the Cycle for Survival, a Washington, D.C. event supporting a local cancer center.
GZA GeoEnvironmental, Inc. annually celebrates the Lunar New Year by raising money for charity. This year's event supported the Norwood Food Pantry in Massachusetts.
Richard Males and Nikko Aranas from the Keller offices in Toronto participated in a Bubble Hockey Night benefitting the Sick Kids Foundation. The fundraiser brought in $420,000!
Sunroc receives appreciation from Dixie State University for the continued support of the institution.
Terracon team members in Cincinnati raised $6500 for the Special Olympics by participating in their sixth straight Polar Plunge. |
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YellowHammer News, a multi-media news outlet covering all things Alabama, published an op-ed by AMERICAN manager Maury Gaston in observance of Engineer's Week.
KOLN/KGIN-TV of Lincoln, NE features video footage of crews from Minnesota-based Atlas Foundation installing sheet piling to close a breach in a Missouri River levee.
ConstructionDive features a story on a St. Louis subcontractor who released a rap video as an effort to attract young adults to construction careers; thanks for the share, Atlas Tube, yo.
Fox 26-Houston hosted Cajun Industries, LLC Intern Lazaro Platas to recognize his scholarship award.
WGNO-ABC New Orleans interviews Sarah Eleanor Lane, daughter of Canal Barge CEO Merritt Lane; she continues the family history as Mardi Gras Royalty after being named 2020 Queen of Carnival.
El Paso Herald-Post covers the opening of the new military health care facility at Fort Bliss, a project on which Clark Construction co-led.
The New England Real Estate Journal runs an annual feature entitled Women Who Build Spotlight. The latest features two engineers from Haley & Aldrich: Katherine Dilawari and Jennifer Sweet.
Mark Balfe of Haley & Aldrich provides the Wall Street Journal [SUBSCRIBER CONTENT] expertise on wood piling repairs in a story that examines rising groundwaters and the impact on high dollar, Boston neighborhoods.
WomenInc. Magazine names three members of the Koppers Holdings Inc. Board of Directors to its 2019 Most Influential Corporate Directors list: Dr. Sharon Feng, Traci L. Jenson and Sonja M. Wilkerson.
The Orlando Business Journal names Universal Engineering Services as a top privately owned company. (Spoiler alert: if you don't want to pay $100 to subscribe and read the full list, UES is number 33.) |
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| Our goal is to provide not only news and information about the pile driving industry, but we also attempt to give you some entertainment and culture. With that, here's what happens when a new bridge is built in Hawaii; another job well done by the Hawaiian Dredging Construction Company. Mahalo for reading. |
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| Thanks for reading 2020's fourth installment of A Pile of News; please keep sending and posting your company announcements. And don't forget to include #PDCADriven on your social media, you might be randomly selected to win PDCA logo merchandise from The PDCA Store. |
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