A Pile of News - July 2021

A Pile of News: July 2021
A briefing on news and information from the pile driving contractors, associated manufacturers, construction suppliers and affiliated engineers that comprise the PDCA
by Matt Bisbee, PDCA
Originally sent July 1, 2021 (Happy Canada Day!)
From the Association & Chapters
Industry Events:
  •  The 2021 PDCA Education Webinar Series resumes July 7 from 11:00 AM to 1:00 PM EDT. Register now for An Integrated Computational and Experimental Study of Driven Pile Set-Up in Soft Clay by Brent Guthrie of Cajun Industries, Chad Held of Eustis Engineering and Utilizing Soil Setup in the Chicago Metro Area by Travis Coleman, Elvis Ishimwe of GRL Engineers, Inc.
  • DICEP (Design and Installation of Cost-Efficient Piles) conference returns as LIVE in 2021; it happens in New Orleans, Sept. 1517 registration is open.
  • PDCA was a cooperating organization at DFI SuperPile '21 in Philly who was spotted [PHOTOS]?

Chapter and Regional Events:
  • PDCA of South Carolina Chapter hosts baseball night on July 29 starting at 6:00 PM EDT. For $10/person (member or not), join the fun with a social hour (burgers and dogs provided) followed by a game between the Charleston RiverDogs who host the Columbia Fireflies a matchup between the Rays and Royals affiliates.
  • PDCA Gulf Coast Chapter holds Q3 meeting on Aug. 19 at L'Auberge Casino, Baton Rouge
  • PDCA Northeast Chapter hosted an annual clay shoot in Pennsylvania; coverage and [PHOTOS]
  • PDCA's Northeast Florida Chapter Initiative Lunch, Aug. 10, 11:30 AM1:30 PM EDT at World Golf Hall of Fame in St. Augustine 
  • PDCA's The Houston Social, Sept. 23, 5:307:30 PM CDT at True Anomaly in Houston, TX

The 2022 PDCA Membership Directory goes to production this fall; you have until Sept. 15 to access your online PDCA account and make any service, contact or personnel adjustments or updates to your company listing from the 2021 publication. Please review your listing ASAP.

PileDriver magazine, Issue #3 2021 is now available; an IFCEE recap is within. Click for the e-mag.
  • Reader note, this issue carries a theme of QA/QC for driven pile applications and plenty of new and insightful content. See timely, related social media from Nathan Price, QA manager at ECS Limited.

Welcome New and Returning Members [JOIN PDCA TODAY]:
Contractors: Ralph L. Wadsworth Construction Company, Trevcon Construction Company
Associates: Bauer Equipment America, DFI Piling, Dunham Price Concrete, OTTO Fabricators, LLC, PACO Ventures, Platinum Grover Int.
Engineering Affiliates: ESP Associates, GEOKON
Labor Organizations: Stovall Foundation Systems
Affiliated Services: USI Insurance, FMI Corp., Shields Mott
Retired: Robert Lowe

Foundation Constructors Inc., you are this month's winner!
Send an email to marian@piledrivers.org before the end of July to claim your prize!
News from PDCA Companies
Acquisitions & Expansions:
On the Job:
APC Construction will contribute to a massive redevelopment of Florida's Space Coast (east-central on the peninsula) to design/build facilities for the U.S. Space Force.

The ASAP Group drives H-pile for a temporary shoring system in an I-295 project in Jacksonville, FL.

Baker GCI to provide civil services for new Nutrien Ammonia Converter and Exchanger in Geismar, LA.

Coastal Contractors, Inc. is completing the rehabilitation of 70-year-old Huey P. Long Bridge on behalf of the New Orleans Public Belt Railroad.

EWS Consulting spent the past year ensuring quality workmanship and contract compliance for construction of a new mega-yacht marina in the Bahamas. Owner Wayne Waters says visits during COVID were a challenge, but not insurmountable. The facility opens this summer.

H.B. Fleming is in Acton, MA (hometown of Steve Carell or "Michael Scott" to fans of The Office). They're installing pipe in Nagog Pond for a new drinking water system.

Innovative Piering installs 16-inch diameter piles to become moorings for an aeration system at a Boston, KY distillery; as they quote on social media, "It's like toothpicks in a cake."

Linde-Griffith constructs the foundation for an addition to an existing warehouse in Jersey City, NJ; their Junttan PM23 is onsite to drive 170 PDA-tested piles (16 x 500 wall PP, by 50' length).

Logan Marine performs piling replacement at Southport Ferry Terminal [video] near Wilmington, NC; it's one of several NC DOT-operated ferry facilities.

Manson uses PVE Equipment, drives 24" pile for Blount Island Terminal Wharf Rehab in Jacksonville, FL.

McCarthy beat the deadline to finish the Port Freeport levee wall stabilization in Texas.

Norwalk Marine places 4K timber piles for a solar farm at a private, Massachusetts cranberry bog.

Orion continues seven-day workweeks in a multi-faceted overhaul at the Port of New Orleans; it includes installation of precast and fender piles. Rising waters and COVID have not slowed the progress!

Piling, Inc. has completed construction on a new tank for Air Products in Texas City. The job involved installation of 1,200 pcs., 16" x 85' concrete pilings driven with their Pileco hammer.

PRECO-MSE is driving 22 HP piles for a retaining wall at Montreal's Saint Jacques Street tunnel project. The job presents challenges with space constraints, road traffic and pile maneuverability.

Powell Foundations completes 16-mile creek project for Verdi Alliance in Milton, ON.

Sealevel Construction wins the contract for $30M Airport Connector Road and Bridge Project in Galliano, LA; final product will cross Bayou Lafourche.

ESC Steel installs steel sheets into cemented sands and calcarenite at Al Maryah Island in Abu Dhabi.

GeoQuip, Inc. equipment installs vinyl sheets at the Savannah Convention Center.

ICE International Construction Equipment has a 66C/800 package pulling tressel pile on the High Rise Bridge project in Chesapeake, VA. Elsewhere, its equipment was spotted on job site where Nucor sheets were utilized for the "world's largest travel lift" in Bayonne, NJ.

JD Fields provided the sheet pile for a curtain wall as part of the Great Falls South Carolina Hydo-Dam decommissioning, which they proudly note was done on schedule and under budget.

ECS Limited provided construction testing for the expansion of the St. Francis Neighborhood Center in Baltimore which, when done, will facilitate a 100% increase in children it can serve.

Fugro earns contract renewal from Atlantic Shores for two years more work off New Jersey coast.

Haley & Aldrich wins funding from the U.S. Department of Defense for specialized research.

Governmental Relations:
Recognitions:
Giving Back:
Anniversaries:
Junttan reaches 45 years in business. Once a small contractor, it has evolved into a global piling specialist and leader. To mark the anniversary, the company has launched a blog sharing stories and notable developments over four decades; piling professionals are invited to engage.
People on the Move
Transitions:
  • Dalton Hoffman, former intern, graduates UArk in C.E., hired full-time at Atlas Foundation
  • Justin Pescosolido, P.E. is new North Carolina-based sales engineer for GeoStructures, Inc.
  • Evan Gerrets joins Canal Barge Company as a new project manager
  • John Konwick in Pittsburgh is the new northeast sales manager for CZM Foundation Equipment
  • Dominic Osei Agyepong, Robert Follett join ECS Limited in Virginia and Pennsylvania, respectively; Isacc Cespedes promoted in Orlando
  • Stan Sadkowski, P.E. named principal at GeoEngineers in Boston; Scott Anderson, P.E. appointed to same role in Kansas City
  • Randy Daub, P.E. named manager at Geo-Technology Associates' Ohio office
  • Joel Bilodeau, PH moves to GZA GeoEnvironmental as senior consultant
  • Shawn Fiore to succeed Larry Smith as president/CEO at Haley & Aldrich in Burlington, MA, also Nick Machairas, Ph.D., noted for AI in geotech work, joins the firm in Boston
  • Gerhard Livingston, intern at S&ME, graduates Clemson, joins the Columbia, SC geotech group
  • Edward A. Bernard succeeds retiring Bill Brickey as Terracon director of facilities services

Recognitions:
In Memoriam:
  • Sergio Gutierrez, a retired pile driver for many years at Piling, Inc., passed in June. His employer Randy Dietel spoke fondly of his former employee, whom he called '"loyal, dependable and highly competent." Notably, Randy helped Sergio gain U.S. citizenship early in his tenure.
  • Bruno Perez of Junttan passed unexpectedly in May; friends and colleagues mourn his loss
Notes from the Field
All the rowdy friends were there, did Hank Jr. stop by? According to photos, morale is high at Aggregate Technologies, which hosted a company pig roast on the beach to kick off the South Texas summer.

Uh oh! Maybe you were late for the beach party, or any obligation you had in Texas, Louisiana, Alabama, Georgia or the Carolinas the other day? You can blame Morris-Shea for snarling the traffic... sorry guys, your social media made this too easy 😉!

Did they once compete against alum Ellen DeGeneres? A geotechnical exploration job on the University of New Orleans campus brought nostalgic feelings at Eustis Engineering, which employs numerous UNO grads. The work was adjacent to a campus site considered the hub for engineering students who participate in the annual ASCE Concrete Canoe Competition.

Pile Driving History Part 1 Opal gray becomes a camo when trying to identify it from a distance on a foggy waterway, or so that was the conclusion made by Manson Construction leadership in 1967. As they were building a terminal for the Port of Seattle, they couldn't see their equipment from afar. That prompted the adoption and implementation of the red and white brand.

Pile Driving History Part 2 Massman Construction led a 1966 joint venture that included Kiewit for construction of the W.D. Mayo Lock and Dam 14 on the Arkansas River in Oklahoma; to date, it provides the region commerce, hydropower and recreation. Crews installed sheet pile cofferdams for job site safety. Upon completion, a 1970 ribbon cutting attracted former president Lyndon Johnson.

Space Race 2021 Perhaps a pile hammer designed for the cosmic grade of the The Red Planet is in development because any future building on Mars would need to start with a foundation. Check out recent work at S&ME involving interplanetary innovations.

PDCA proudly represents an increasingly diverse member-base. We were humbled to catch a Facebook post from new member Black River Solar, which gives IFCEE '21 a positive endorsement thanks, guys!
Media Hits!
GBCA News spotlights American Pile and Foundation LLC in Philadelphia region.

nola.com publishes photos of APC Construction building a permanent floodwall for an $8.9M New Orleans project near the local HQ for the USACE. Job site pics show installation of sheet and H-piles to raise a nearby levee segment. To date, the overdue project has been delayed by high water.

Building Design + Construction quotes Tim Berry, SVP at Balfour Beatty US in a story about the company commitment and impressive record in hiring veterans and awarding them subcontracts.

American Journal of Transportation quotes Frederick Paup of Manson Construction in coverage of a significant agreement between the USACE and the dredging industry prioritizing safety.

St. Louis Post-Dispatch captures video of a community improvement effort that attracted numerous volunteers. Among them was McCarthy Construction, which donated equipment and personnel.

Construction Equipment Guide details a massive project nearly 10 years underway in North Carolina; identified as a "key subcontractor," R.E. Burns & Sons Co. is noted for building the sound walls and box culverts for the I-40 & I-77 Interchange in Statesville, NC, 40 miles north of Charlotte.

News Radio WTAM Cleveland reports on opening of Wendy Park Bridge, a federal initiative with a $16.45M price tag; The Great Lakes Construction Company among construction contributors.

Piling Canada profiles Kassie Davidson of ECA, the company's first female service technician. She brings an amazing story of perseverance, inspiring to all.
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