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A Pile of News: April 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 April 1, 2025

Top of the Pile

NO FOOLIN', THEY'RE DUE FRIDAY: Your land, marine, earth retention, associate/engineering affiliate submission(s) for the 2025 Project of the Year Awards program.

Welcome to the newest members of PDCA who joined in the first quarter of 2025!

• Contractors: Bay Area Pile Driving in Tampa, FL; Callan Marine in Galveston, TX; Osborne Contractors, LLC from New Orleans, LA; R.W. Harris, Inc. A Goettle Company in Clearwater, FL; Taplin Enterprises in Kalamazoo, MI
• Associates: Heavy Iron near Columbia, SC; Gonzo Logistics near Houston, TX; BAR Pole & Piling Co. near Meridian, MS; Imperial Crane Services near Chicago; OmniDuct near Los Angeles; The Hose Company in Charlotte, NC; Mitchell Crane from Bryan, TX; United Rentals Trench Safety in Beaumont, TX; CMI Limited in Atlanta, GA; Big Steel near Birmingham, AL
• Engineering Affiliates: Aimone Martin Associates, LLC near Albuquerque, NM; Detecht, LLC in Castle Rock, CO; Simpson Gumpertz & Heger (SGH) from Oakland, CA
• Government Employee: Silas Nichols from the U.S. DOT, Federal Highway Administration
• Students: Larry Buchheit from Auburn University; Melvin McElwee, Sr. from Troy University
• Retired: Marty Goff; Mark Speaker

More Annual Conference coverage and photos are in the latest issue of PileDriver magazine. Read Issue 2 2025. The hard copy is on its way this month!

From the Association & Chapters

Mark your calendars:

• April 4: Gulf Coast Chapter Golf Tournament, Springfield, LA, 9 AM 3 PM Join chapter members and guests at Carter Plantation Golf Club for a four-person scramble. Register as single, twosome or foursome. Sponsorships available!
• April 10: Value Driven Webinar Series, virtual education, 23 PM EDT Hear the presentation 'Considerations for Testing: Making the Most of Load Test Programs' by Ryan Allin, P.E., VP of Pile Dynamics, Inc.; one PDH available.
• April 22: Texas Chapter Lunch & Learn, Mont Belvieu, TX, 10:30 AM 1:30 PM Hear technical presentations on steel piling from representatives of CPS Houston and JD Fields & Co. The event includes networking, lunch, PDCA updates and an optional round of golf, all taking place at the Eagle Point Golf Course.
• April 2426: GBA Annual Conference, Savannah, GA, PDCA cooperates with the Geotechnical Business Assn.Guoming Lin, Ph.D., G.E., BCGE, VP at Terracon, will give a featured talk on a 2022 Savannah bulkhead collapse.
• April 25: Pacific Coast Chapter 14th Annual Scholarship ShootShow off your marksmanship skills at the 2025 edition of this popular event, taking place at Birds Landing from 8 AM 3 PM. Lunch, a raffle, auction and awards included.
• May 8: South Carolina Chapter Dinner Meeting, Charleston, SC, 69 PM Members and guests will gather at the Town and Country Inn & Suites. The quarterly event features networking, a program, dinner and a PDCA update.

From the piledrivers.org blog:

• Golf, learn and shoot  PDCA chapter events in April offer a variety of activities and engagement opportunities to the pile driving industry.
• New Florida Chapter circulates an invitation to pile driving industry stakeholders in the Sunshine State to join the organization.
• Seminar/Workshop on Dynamic Testing concludes its first of two events this year. DFDTA is a collaboration between Pile Dynamics, Inc. and PDCA that is offered each spring in Orlando, and in the fall in Cleveland.
• Northeast Chapter held the 2025 Professional Development Course where attendees heard a comprehensive case study on a bridge project for NJDOT. George Harms Construction hosted and sponsored the seminar.

Congratulations, Rick Sadler, you are this month's winner! Send an email to marian@piledrivers.org before the end of April to claim your prize!

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News from PDCA Companies

Acquisitions & expansions:

• DFI Piling is under construction on its 9th North American location. The newest facility coming to Williston, ND, will serve the North Central U.S.
• Dark Horse Metals announced that its new facility in Florence, TX, called The Forge, is now operational, complete with a new 3D profiler. The steel distributor offers tighter tolerances, streamlined processing and custom solutions.
• MRCE moves into the Boston market. The New York-based firm founded in 1910 already has burgeoning practices in Washington, DC, and Philadelphia. Principal Sitotaw Fantaye, P.E., was tapped to lead the new Boston practice.

Giving back:

• GROUP Contractors partnered with Baton Rouge General Physicians to offer employees and spouses heart health screenings; 95% of staff participated.
• Mason Construction is an ambassador to next-gen builders in Beaumont, TX, construction. It starred in a local TV news segmentcalled, Make Macy Do It, that highlights building careers. Next time, make Macy drive piles!
• Anchor QEA stepped-up for the 7th consecutive year to support Seattle public education. The engineering firm sponsored the 5K, Running of the Beavers.

Recognitions:

• Kellerwins AGC award for Subcontractor of the Year South Florida.
• Veit has won the Minnesota 2024 Safety Driven Contractor Award of Excellence.
• Canal Barge Company earns a spot on the New Orleans CityBusiness list for Top Private Companies of 2025 for having surpassed $500M in revenue.
• Bull Moose Tube operates its largest HSS facility in Elkhart, IN. The plant won the Century Plus Community Awardfor 2024 from the Greater Elkhart Chamber.
• GeoQuip of Chesapeake, VA, appears in TowneToday magazine, a Virginia bank publication. Business owners Gary, Gayle and Martin Terwilliger are pictured.

Governmental relations:

• Baker GCI has been building foundations at the Plaquemines LNG site in Louisiana for three years. Last month, Gov. Landry and U.S. Secretaries Burgum (Interior) and Walker (Energy) visited the energy production facility. Baker safety manager David Seal stood in a photo with the governor.
• Kiewit works with Mayor Guajardo, Gov. Abbott and lawmakers in Corpus Christi to build the first city-owned seawater desalination facility in the U.S.
• Nucor team lead from its Decatur, AL, plant Jeff Denard visited Capitol Hill where he was a guest of the First Lady for the March 4th Joint Session Presidential Address. There, President Trump welcomed him by name during the speech.

Anniversaries:

• George Harms Construction Co. had planned to gather for a celebration of its remarkable 60-year anniversary back in 2020, however, prohibitions from the COVID pandemic that year resulted in a cancellation. Fast-forward to 2025, the team at Harms, considered internally as its "greatest asset," celebrated in February for its success as a New Jersey GC. However, this time it was for 65 years in business! Congrats to the longtime PDCA member on this milestone.

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People on the Move

Transitions:

• Jim McNally was described as "wicked smart"as the Manson Construction BOD named him new pres./CEO. The former EVP/COO succeeds John Holmes, who retired in March after a 48-year career with major changes at the company. The celebration also honored outgoing senior estimator Bill Shorey.
• Lina Martin, P.E., MNSc, elevates to VP of engineering at ORION. Two of her colleagues also earn promotions; Heath Crittenden, P.E., MBA, becomes engineering director of operations and principal engineer, and Gary Schneider, P.E., is now senior engineering consultant.
• Jesse Ottesen retires after 40 years in deep foundations, the last 28 at Weeks Marine. He said choosing a standout job is "like picking a favorite child." He and his wife plan visit U.S. national parks, but he'll keep some professional affiliations. Thanks, Jesse, for your industry commitment and contributions.
• Marcos Clo retires from CZM-US Foundation Equipmentin a LinkedIn video. Also at CZM, Thiago Pellegrini becomes the new U.S. sales director.
• Paul Jaquillard rises to VP at Meever USA after nine years as BDM.
• Lino Monge elevated from shop manager to sales at PILECO in Conroe, TX.
• Rich Northfield, a tubular product sales veteran, joins Houston-based THI Pipe & Piling as the newest sales and marketing specialist in Annapolis, MD.
• Joel Webster, P.E., is the new branch manager at the North Carolina offices of GRL Engineers. The firm has hired new staff engineers  Shahriar Abdullah, Eric Wooten in Texas and Venkat Kishan Gangadhari in Cleveland.
• Isabella Kennedy elevates to assistant project manager at the Boston offices of GZA GeoEnvironmental, Inc., where she has been staff scientist since 2022.
• Jacob Wiginton, PE, joins Lloyd Engineering in Houston as project manager.
• Justin Schwebler is a new senior scientist at Terracon in Charleston, SC.
• Marty Goff retired as senior geologist in Washington, DC, at USACE, where he spent 34 years. An active member of the PDCA Education Committee, he opted to assume a retired membership to stay involved.

Recognitions:

• Jarrod Sanborn, Ben Ginnelly, Max Owen are CIANBRO craftspeople who placed at the National Championships in Las Vegas; Baxter Cole competed.
• Gil Dissen authors a thoughtful article for Marina Dock Age about installing floating and fixed docks. The president of Dissen & Juhn Company in Maryland considers the variables and draws from his decades of experience.
• Dermot Fallon, pres./CEO at Foundation, Inc. in Oakley, CA, wins a board seatfor the Western U.S. organization serving union-affiliated contractors.
• George B. Clarke IV, CEO at MEB, was named to a business publication's list of 150 Most Influential People in Coastal Virginia.
• Mitch Marlow, a project engineer at Russell Marine LLC in its East Coast operations, has won the Unsung Hero Award from Tampa's Propeller Club.
• Mike Leal, sales manager at Lodge Lumber in Houston, sits for an interview published in the March editionof Business & Industry Connection Magazine.

In sympathy:

• Larry P. Rayburn (19382025): Following an impactful career in deep foundation design and construction with Richard Goettle, Inc., the late Mr. Rayburn simultaneously lent his expertise in his craft, and his support, to PDCA and other organizations working to advance the industry. He is survived by his wife of 66 years, children and grandchildren. His memorial fund supports the University of Cincinnati Civil Engineering Scholarship Fund in his name.
• Charles Norman Crisson (19652025): A lifelong resident of Bermuda, Mr. Crisson passed away in late January, days before his 60th birthday. The owner of Crisson Construction supported PDCA as a foundation and marine construction professional. He is survived by his wife, Valerie, and two children.

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On the Job

ASAP Group is driving 184 pairs of coated AZ 12-770 steel sheet pilesfrom JD Fields & Co. for the Medley RNG facility near Miami. At Cocoa Beach, their crew uses an HPSI Model 300from GeoQuip, Inc. to install sheets for the new Westin Beach Resort, soon to be the most luxurious hotel in Brevard County.

Cape Romain Contractors is building a new water control structureon a foundation of 24 timber piles, designed by Thomas & Hutton. It requires construction of a temporary coffer cell consisting of PZ-27 sheetpile, soldier piles and a cell ring. Pile driving work for the Cainhoy, SC, job involves an MKT V-20 and an APE 50. Terracon is the geotech of record.

MEB is building the new Tabb facility for the Hampton Roads Sanitary District in Tabb, VA. PM Brandon Jones says crews used their PILECO D-9 hammer, freshly serviced by GeoQuip, Inc., to drive 247, 12-inch PSC piles from Atlantic Metrocast; Infrastructure Consulting & Engineering performed PDA testing. Terracon is GOR for the new installation, expected online in spring 2026.

Morris-Shea Bridge Co. is installing foundations for a terminal addition and parking garage at Jacksonville International Airport in Florida. Hammer & Steel supplied a press attachment that crews used to place steel sheets.

Reagan Marine anticipates it will be using an ICE, Inc. vibro to drive timber piling for the reconstruction of the Elm Street Pier in Newport, RI, a structure on which they performed emergency repair work last year.

Richard E. Pierson Construction is reconfiguring the intersection of Annapolis Rd. and Baltimore Washington Parkway near Jessup, MD. A crew installed piling from Triad Metals with an ICE, Inc., I-30 hammer. The MDOT job is expected in late 2027.

Sealevel Construction completes a multi-faceted construction job for the FAA near Leeville, LA. Among the components was the installation of a temporary cofferdam, fortification of sheet piling and pile caps and driving 98 timber piles.

Industry news:

• Atlas Tube CEO Barry Zekelmanappeared on CNBC in March to offer his perspectives as owner of a U.S. steel manufacturer, on the ongoing North American dialogue concerning new tariffs among the countries.
• Earth, Inc. owner Mike Sydlik shares an ENR story about a request by the City of Chicago to contractors, to discount signed construction contractsby 3%.
• S&ME distributes this report from OSHA, listing the federal agency's Top 10 Most Frequently Cited Standards for FY 2024.

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Notes from the Field

Culture Club  It's likely that most of our workplaces did not observe the Lunar New Year. However, if it's on your agenda for next year, one PDCA member sets an example: Hawaiian Dredging Construction Companyheld a Lion Dance Blessing in February and sent humanity best wishes for prosperity, health and good fortune.

Come Fly With Me  There's no shame for a foundation pro to admire their work for years after it's done. And underground elements are rarely seen, anyway. But Jason Jones at CMI Limited was departing San Francisco airport and shared his pride in seeing company product installed 20 years ago, within eyeshot of the runway.

Minnesota Nice  We would be stunned if American Engineering Testing, Inc. (AET) in St. Paul, MN, didn't provide a wide variety of what were likely amazing, midwestern-baked pies for the staff on March 14. Engineering firm...Pi Day, and all.

It was flat-out scary, baby  After all the emotion, intrigue and uncertainty of 2025 March Madness, and we end up with an all-1-seed Final Four? But, a NEW national champ is imminent. By the way, Jill Kennedy at REV Drillis hosting an industry pool with a top prize of $2K. We're excited to learn who wins!

This publication recognizes PDCA members for the work you do, the goodwill you provide and the contributions of your staff. It's simple when we learn of your company news, you get a shout-out here. But you must be a member to appear! JOIN PDCA.

One member turned tables on PDCA and gave us a shout-out in an article he published for an international organization. Eric Lincoln at American Pole & Timber shared his reasons for being involved in industry associations, and promoted the work of PDCA in his narrative. Thanks, Eric!

Thanks for reading, we will be back with the next installment on May 1st.