| A Pile of News: January 2022 |
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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
Originally sent Jan. 3, 2022 |
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| From the Association & Chapters |
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A new PDCA Board of Directors was seated Jan. 1. Meet the 2022 leadership that you elected: president Brian Heck; VP Kustaa Mansfield; secretary Buck Darling; treasurer Scott Webster; and past-president Kevin Gourgues. At-large members are Harold Baur, Greg Canivan, Jim Dempsey, Diane Fischer, Mike Juneau, Doug Keller, and Bruce Langan. New to the board are Randy Kelly and David Price.
- Departing the board following a completed three-year term is Emmett Waggenspack.
The PDCA 2022 Project of the Year Awards program is open; enter your 2021 project(s) by May 6.
A Pile of Pictures? Last year was a big year at PDCA; revisit some notable moments through these PHOTOS.
Welcome 2021-Q4 new members: Russell Marine, Precast Piling Technology, Pinnacle Drilling Products and Pipe Market. Not a PDCA member? JOIN TODAY and start a full year of membership benefits.
Through generosity of PDCA members, 2021 president Kevin Gourgues delivered $7,500 in donated funds to Hurricane Ida relief; impacted Louisiana families realized benefits during the holidays.
Upcoming association events:
- Feb. 9 - 12, 2022: PDCA 23rd Annual International Conference & Expo is at the Arizona Grand Resort & Spa in Phoenix. Educational and professional development programming, industry awards, trade show and networking among the features. Register today!
PDCA South Carolina Chapter events:
- Jan. 21, 5 - 9 PM EST: 16th Annual Oyster Roast at Palmetto Pile Driving, Inc., Charleston, SC. This is a must attend event each year; don't miss the opportunity to network and socialize with friends and associates in the piling industry while enjoying fresh oysters, drinks and more!
- Feb. 17, 6:30 PM EST: First Quarter Meeting at Town & Country Inn and Suites, Charleston.
- Mar. 17: 2022 Driven Pile Technical Seminar, The Citadel Holliday Alumni Center, Charleston.
Texas PDCA members organize, establish leadership. Meet the new slate of officers.
- President: Brandon Bicknell, Russell Marine LLC
- Vice president: Condon Verble, McCarthy Building Companies, Inc.
- Treasurer: Arjin Dogan, JD Fields & Company, Inc.
- Secretary: Armando Guajardo, BRC International LLC
*Special thanks to December "guest editor" Derek Brodnax of Service Steel Warehouse in Texas! #IYKYK |
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Phongsaphon Suwansukho at Fugro, you are this month's winner!
Send an email to marian@piledrivers.org before the end of January to claim your prize! |
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Governmental relations:
Giving back:
Recognitions:
Acquisitions & expansions:
Anniversary:
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Transitions:
- Brandon Bicknell elevates to president at Russell Marine in Channelview, TX; Joe Pena promoted to survey manager.
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- Amir Pasha Marvastian retained FT as field engineer at Clark in DC following internship.
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- David Crawford named new account manager at Equipment Corporation of America Florida.
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- Steve Toombs retires from Ardaman & Associates after 29 years as a lab tech in Orlando.
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- Kevin Russ in Boise and Jason Edwards in Seattle, join the team at GeoEngineers.
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- Shawn Dedeker, PG named representative of GEOKON in Minn.; Greg Dutson in Tennessee.
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- Mikaelah Hill, recent EIT, secures full-time role at S&ME after May graduation at NC State.
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- Austin Poppleton, Jude Courtney newly named to team at Southern Earth Sciences.
Recognitions:
Congratulations!
- IIkka Brotherus, owner of Junttan USA parent company, was presented the Finnish Lion Commander's medal from Finland's president Sauli Niinistol on Dec. 6.
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- Jordana Paker of ECS Limited is celebrated as the Highest Individual Fundraiser by the Houston American Heart Association for exceeding the goal of $125K in the CycleNation event.
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- Pat DiCerbo, Northwestern Mutual completed 16 Iron Man competitions, most recently in November. He heads to the World Championship this May in Utah. Good luck, Pat!
In memoriam
- Jack E. Perry, longtime president of C.D. Perry & Sons, Inc. in Troy, NY, passed at age 96 on Dec. 22nd. A triumph of his rich life was to see completion of the much-heralded Troy Seawall Stabilization. The WW II vet and diversified businessman is survived by his wife Cynthia.
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- Vernon Bump retired from SD-DOT after 40 years, then finished his career as P.E. at American Engineering Testing. A recognized regional expert in landslides, he passed in late 2021..
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The ENR 2021 Top 600 Specialty Contractors (PAYWALL) list is out and PDCA members earn spots. Congratulations to Keller, Baker Construction Enterprises (BCE), Richard Goettle, Inc., Foundation Constructors and Clark Foundations.
ENR examines supply-chain, inflation challenges to construction; David Alford, a McCarthy VP in California, is quoted (paywall). Elsewhere, St. Louis Construction News and Review profiles McCarthy senior estimator Teresa Fechtel, who shares thoughts on an increasingly inclusive construction sector.
Construction Dive prints interview with Andree Yaap, a precon exec at Clark in the mid-Atlantic region; she encourages a younger workforce to view their career climb as a "jungle gym instead of a ladder."
Business & Industry Connection magazine serving Louisiana and Texas, publishes an op-ed by personnel manager Ryan Galiano of BCE who addresses the skilled labor shortage many contractors are feeling.
- *Many PDCA members advertise jobs and we share this one from Poseidon Dredge & Marine; they need a pile driver. (After all, it's January and a beach gig might sound good to you!)
The Tribune Chronicle serving Northeast Ohio, publishes an interview with Barry Zekelman, CEO of Atlas Tube's parent company. Later, he appeared on the Thomas Industry Update Podcast.
Geostrata has a construction history of Washington, DC, by Karl Higgins of ECS Limited; it's an engineer's perspective juxtaposing Pierre L'Enfant's original work, as commissioned by Pres. George Washington, to today's evolving Capitol City hardscape. Also, Maryland Construction Network publishes an article by Alexis Herr entitled Combatting Delays Due to Geostructures.
FES Journal publishes The Use of Advanced Technology to Supplement Bridge Inspections and Asset Management Programs; EXP experts Julie Vers, Carmine Borea, Eugene Collings-Bonfill co-author.
Alaska Business Magazine quotes Shannon & Wilson, Anchorage office manager Kyle Brennan in a feature article summarizing local construction over the course of 2021.
Boston Business Journal (paywall) profiles Sue Bator, veteran environmental scientist at GeoEngineers. |
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APC Construction wins $4.5M contract for design/build of Coast Guard boathouse in Grand Isle, LA.
ASAP Group drives steel sheets at Stormwater Treatment Area 1 West as part of continued efforts to refurbish the Florida Everglades and enhance area agriculture, recreation trails and hunting.
Balfour Beatty production piling begins on a "first-of-its-kind bridge in the U.S." A 3,200 ft., NC-DOT span will feature precast pilings (24" 75-130') with carbon fiber strand and reinforcing no steel! It's expected to be complete in 2025, and replace existing bridges from Harker's Island, NC to the mainland.
Clark joins administrators from The Catholic University of America in Washington, DC, for a ceremonial ground-breaking of a new 102,000 square foot nursing school.
Farrell Brothers Marine completes a piling replacement for a Jacksonville, FL, residential dock.
Foundation Constructors has a crew at Bird's Landing, east of San Francisco; they're driving pipe pilings for a 600-foot tower for PG&E. It's believed it will be the largest in the power company's portfolio.
Goettle drives 108 king piles to expand the Allegheny County Sanitary Authority near Pittsburgh.
PRECO-MSE completes a foundation in the frozen ground of St-Philippe, south of Montreal; a Junttan rig was spotted on the job that's considered one of the contractor's largest 2021 projects.
Walters Marine Construction drives Nucor Skyline NZ 26 steel with GeoQuip-HPSI equipment to form a bulkhead at Gardner's Basin Back Bay in Atlantic City and fortify the area against tropical storm surge.
Weeks Marine is at work on historic Ellis Island in NYC. The $30.8M repair/replacement of nearly 7K feet of seawall uses a diesel hammer and vibro from ICE USA; the job is expected to complete in February 2023.
GeoSciences Testing and Research completed static load and dynamic pile testing on steel pipe and sheets for a Newark, NJ, floodwall.
S&ME partners with Greater Bethel AME Church and Habitat for Humanity in Charlotte to provide due diligence services for development of a new, affordable housing community.
EAS Regional Council of Carpenters forecasts an "influx of work" in New Jersey from a burgeoning offshore wind industry. Pile driver trainees prepare using an American Piledriving Equipment hammer. |
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Did you see this reality TV contestant from a PDCA member company? Congrats Quincey Walker of Nucor in South Carolina. The diesel mechanic competed in season three of Tough as Nails on CBS. He finished second! See his priceless reaction when he wins a battle completing a plumbing fix.
There's no tear in this beer Hoptimistic Times is a beer that the GZA GeoEnvironmental, Inc. "brew crew" developed in 2021 for select distribution. This carbon neutral, hybrid IPA comes in four-packs of 16 oz cans, each 7% alcohol by volume. Unique labels incorporate a QR code that links the drinker to info and a contest for a Yeti cooler. GZA senior principal Bradford Roberts says he and colleagues have partnered with Castle Island Brewing in Norwood, MA, on the last three years' production. What will 2022 bring?
Death and taxes Without fail each year, at least one PDCA associate member will don a temporary CPA hat and remind contractors about Section 179 of the U.S. Internal Revenue Code; it allows for expensing business equipment/property on your income taxes. Thanks to Pile Master for offering the first (that we saw) such social media post, reminding readers that air hammer purchases qualify.
Yep, basement bands still rock! Eddy Kitchen of Engineered Rigging and manager of The JackWagons band treats music enthusiasts on his social media to three acoustic covers from his Virginia home.
"Save the neck for me, Clark" It's rumored (not confirmed) this is how John King of Pile Drivers, Inc. placed his order at a Charleston, SC, restaurant in December. Guest drive-thru clerk Chevy Chase, in town for a special screening of Christmas Vacation, didn't include the neck with the order; however, he instructed his guest (who he confused for Cousin Eddie), "Don't forget the rubber sheets and gerbils!" |
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