| A Pile of News: February 2021 |
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A briefing on news and information from the pile driving contractors, associated manufacturers, construction suppliers and affiliated engineers who comprise the PDCA.
By Matt Bisbee, PDCA |
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| From the Association & Chapters |
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Thank you, PDCA sustaining members, for remitting 2021 invoices and for continued support of the driven pile. Not a PDCA member? Join our growing roster of deep foundation professionals.
Shout-out to January's new members: Contractors Logan Marine, Baker GCI, American Deep Foundations and South Shore Pile Driving; associates MT Kaye Steel and Pipe & Tube Supplies; and engineering affiliate Smart Structures. Welcome to all!
Upcoming events:
- CONTINUING ED: Feb. 2 (11 am1 pm EST) PDCA 2021 Education Webinar Series #1 "Cone Penetration Testing and Pile Driving: A Great Combination," by Gerald Verbeek and Derrick Dasenbrock. CLICK TO REGISTER, GET FULL SERIES SCHEDULE.
- LIVE SEMINAR/PROFICIENCY TEST: March 810 Deep Foundation Dynamic Testing & Analysis, presented by PDCA and Pile Dynamics, Inc. Three-day event to take place at Doubletree by Hilton Orlando Airport, PDHs are available and COVID-19 precautions in place.
- The deadline for submissions to PDCA's 2021 Project of the Year Awards program is May 7. New this year, submission is FREE. CLICK HERE for full terms and entry form.
- INDUSTRY EVENT: May 1014 IFCEE/International Foundations Congress and Equipment Expo, a triennial collaboration of the deep foundations industry and partner organizations PDCA, ADSC, DFI and Geo-Institute. The event includes a technical conference and equipment show, at the Hyatt Regency in Dallas, Texas; registration opens Feb. 15.
The industry-wide Working Platforms Working Group, a collaboration of PDCA, ADSC and DFI, has released the newly published Recommended Industry Practices for Safe Working Platforms for Construction Equipment guide.
Committee involvement maximizes PDCA membership Join a standing committee or attend a virtual meeting in February; Membership Committee (2/4, 11:00 am); Communications Committee (2/4, 2:00 pm); Education Committee (2/10, 2:00 pm) All times Eastern.
PDCA's new spring line Be sure to shop The PDCA Store for logo-apparel items. Ask us about the new ladies' blouse, stylish windbreaker or camo hat trimmed in hunter orange. More clothing and proprietary educational resources are available. Visit The PDCA Store today, and regularly for updates.
Chapter news:
PDCA of South Carolina will host its first quarterly meeting of 2021 on Feb. 11. It is a virtual event on Zoom from 3-5 PM EST featuring a presentation on Dynamic Pile Testing from Mohammad Hussein, PE; click here to register.
- One of the pile driving industry's most anticipated events is the annual PDCA of South Carolina Chapter Oyster Roast. It is tentatively set for March 26 at Palmetto Pile Driving in Charleston.
PDCA of the Pacific Coast Chapter is recruiting leadership; if you are interested in serving the chapter as secretary or at large board member, contact president Dermot Fallon at Foundation Constructors. |
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ECA, you are this month's winner! Send an email to
marian@piledrivers.org before the end of February to claim your prize! |
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Projects:
American Pile and Foundation drove thousands of pipe and H-piles and performed other services for the Rockaway Boardwalk project in New York City.
Atlas Foundation installs a driven pile in Rapid City, SD.
Corman Kokosing dispatched "Greenzilla," an International Construction Equipment (ICE) vibro, for a marine construction job calling for the installation of 140,000 pounds of pile in Lewes, DE.
H.B. Fleming, Inc. shares new drone footage of progress on the Back Cove South Storage Facility in Portland, ME; sheet pilings help define the lower framework.
Norwalk Marine Contractors installed driven piles under the new 4D theater at The Marine Aquarium at Norwalk, reportedly saving the Connecticut city "hundreds of thousands" in taxpayer dollars.
Poseidon Dredge & Marine braves Tampa's winter to improve the Lowry Park boat ramp.
PRECO-MSE mitigates a blanket of snow and installs piles for a new residential complex in Montreal.
Sealevel Construction Inc. works to protect local boating, control flooding through the Bayou Terrebonne Lock project in Montegut, LA.
ECA captures it's Pileco D19-42 driving a test pile for a New Jersey stormwater project.
GeoQuip shows its Pileco diesel hammer in action at the Nice/Middleton Bridge connecting VA and MD; Corman Kokosing is among contractors on the $463 million joint venture.
Giken's Silent Piler installed sheet pile for a mixed-use complex on Manhattan's Upper East Side; MRCE consulted. Fun fact - Google maps displays the property as adjacent to Lou Gehrig's childhood home.
Nucor Skyline sent pipe and sheet pile connectors for a combi-wall to mitigate flooding at a Manhattan rail yard. Out west, they supplied H-pile for Washington DOT's Lundeen Parkway project.
PVE Equipment USA performs in-house hammer maintenance with a rebuild of a client's PVE 23VML; check out what could be considered a "growth chart" of the vibro.
ECS Mid-Atlantic is performing construction observation and testing on a new building at Maryland's Anne Arundel Community College campus.
Eustis Engineering is retained to provide geotechnical and CMT services for a $40 million overhaul of the Baton Rouge Zoo and Greenwood Community Park project.
GeoEngineers, Inc. is part of the team finishing a new state-of-the-art LNG facility in Tacoma, WA; it goes online early this year after 10 years of construction.
GZA GeoEnvironmental is retained by VTrans to provide geotechnical evaluation, other consulting services for transportation projects in the state of Vermont through 2023.
Haley & Aldrich is the geotech on record for a new research center at Northeastern University in Boston and a waterfront development in Portland, ME.
Premier Geotech and Testing is on the job in Port Arthur, TX, monitoring pile installation for 4,000 precast concrete piles and performing PDA testing at an industrial site.
Giving back:
Recognitions:
Acquisitions & Expansions:
Anniversaries:
"A deep foundations professional who views the world the same at fifty as they did at twenty has wasted thirty years." In reverence, PDCA salutes legacy members Foundation Constructors, Inc. of Oakley, CA and American Engineering Testing, Inc. of St. Paul, MN; both celebrate 50 years in business this year.
Governmental relations:
AMERICAN VP Mike Petrus appointed by Gov. Kay Ivey to Alabama Workforce Development Board
Nucor Corporation congratulates its former board of directors member General Lloyd Austin who, in late January, won confirmation from the U.S. Senate to serve as the new U.S. Secretary of Defense.
- This development follows Nucor's president and CEO Leon Topalian's earlier call for American infrastructure investment during ASCE's Failure to Act; he assures the new Administration that steelmaking capacity will keep necessary pace to revive the "physically crumbling" highways, ports, railroads and waterways.
One dollar of infrastructure investment becomes $4 of societal benefit; read one state's analysis of a study on governmental investment in transportation projects. |
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The monthly round-up:
- Denis Orsini tapped to lead Keller's newly acquired Quebec team as senior engineer
- Cole Newman returns to PVE Equipment, becomes new sales and rental manager, Southeast
- Manol Andonyadis, P.E. is new EVP, Leo J. Titus, Jr., P.E. is COO at ECS Limited. Also, Amber Milot and Beth Ganoe earn corporate promotions. Elsewhere, Sal Fiorentino and Chris Lopez become subsidiary presidents and there are several other New Year elevations within the firm.
- Dave Zmijewski selected as new president of Geo-Technology Associates, Inc.
- Matthew Ruehle, P.E. is now associate at Mueser Rutledge Consulting Engineers (MRCE)
- Kelly Pittman is the new assistant project manager at Premier Geotech and Testing
- S&ME announces several promotions, including Liz Porter, Keith Brown, Meredith Keyes, Angela Musselwhite, Bill Schwartz, Shannon Sweitzer, Dave Duke, Kellie Ford, Chris Headley, Adam Marr, Kasey McWhorter, Matt Boler, Mary Scarbrough, Travis Wilson
- James Bristow, P.E. named president of the western region at UES
Congratulations!
A third generation executive with Linde-Griffith Construction Co., John F. Shannon retired Dec. 31; he leaves as a manager, shareholder and board of directors member. Shannon says he has been "uniquely privileged" to work in foundations with his father, brother, daughter, sons and nephews.
Domingo and Maria Santana are recognized by colleagues at Canal Barge Company as the first married couple in company history to both reach 25 years of employment. Here's to 25 more!
Recognitions:
- Erin Young of Clark Construction named 2020 "L.A. Woman"...of Influence
- Rick Hinson, P.E. of ECS Mid-Atlantic wins industry award
- Joel Webster of GRL Engineers, Inc. passes P.E. exam, earns North Carolina license
- Joe Galley, VP at GZA GeoEnvironmental, to co-chair of programs for NAIOP New Jersey
- Melvin C. Williams, VP at S&ME, Inc. is named vice chair-elect of ACEC Board
- Mary McCarthy, safety director at Canal Barge Company, is a "Top Woman in Maritime."
- Joy Carter, communications manager at AMERICAN, appointed to national board.
Quotable: "We are thankful that Norwalk municipal leadership chose to save the city hundreds of thousands of dollars by using driven piles over drilled micro piles." Skip Gardella of Norwalk Marine Contractors doesn't mince words as he engages with a project stakeholder on social media. |
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Memphis Business Journal ranks Continental Construction Co. Inc. as the fastest growing company in the region, highlights the contractor's impressive resume.
The Guam Daily Post reports Hawaiian Dredging Construction Co. is in a joint venture that secured a $97.99 million contract for wharf repairs and upgrades on Naval Base Guam.
CNBC's "Streets of Dreams" features the revitalization of San Diego's Seaport Village; McCarthy Building Companies is among the contractors retained for the mega-project.
The Rock Hill Herald shares the unique career trajectory of Ida Luchey, facility manager for Koppers; you never know how getting lost on a two-hour drive could change your life!
Future of Business and Tech published a piece by Danyle Hepler of Haley & Aldrich; it discusses how the pandemic redefines the role of EHS&S professionals. USA Today also carried the article. |
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| Notes from the Field "Lifestyle" edition |
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Not sure how your New Year's Resolution is going but Poseidon Dredge & Marine is "Get'n Fat'r"...back in service. The South Florida contractor recently christened its reconditioned pushboat.
Meanwhile, on La Isla Bonita A crew from Morris-Shea Bridge Company takes a break from "bumping and grinding" the foundation and "strikes the pose" in their new PPE gear to indulge in a little voguing.
Considering a Baltimore penthouse? Check out Inner Harbor's Ritz Carlton, which has a vacancy. For just $30K per month, live atop the structure with a solid, concrete pile foundation, inspected by D.W. Kozera, Inc. Novel enthusiasts could boast about living in the former residence of famed author Tom Clancy.
Now where should we park the boat? Universal Engineering Sciences has a crew in Ft. Pierce, FL to monitor sheet pile vibrations during construction of Derecktor Shipyards, soon to become South Florida's newest marina designed for mega-yachts.
Maybe one day they'll be Super Bowl Shufflin' at SoFi in SoCal The soon-to-be new home of the L.A. Rams is the NFL's first open-air, indoor-outdoor venue and first football stadium built in Los Angeles in nearly 100 years. Atlas Tube is among its steel suppliers. But first, all eyes on Tampa this week!
It's almost Valentine's Day and your Christmas lights should be down, but do they operate by remote control? Does your child own a radio-controlled toy? Perhaps your T.V. clicker has been overworked during COVID? Pile driving also offers remote control capability; ECA shares the latest innovation.
Steel sheets surrounding Sanders You've seen them by now, memes of a mitten-fisted Bernie Sanders photoshopped into locations everywhere. Sunbelt Rentals was the first PDCA member we saw implement the viral image into its social media; nice work, Carolina Karasinski!
Thanks for reading today, it was a long one! If it has taken you to lunchtime, we leave you an entrée suggestion through this parting quote from Chaz - "Hey Ma, can we get some meatloaf?" |
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