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Top of the pile:

Are you Vegas-bound? PDCA will be at CONEXPO this week. We hope to see those of you who attend. Yes, we will ask to take your photo...and that could end up in this space next month. Get in touch if you want to connect in Sin City! Safe travels.

Your HR departments have been busy - see an exceptionally large list of news about the piling industry professionals with whom you work in People on the Move.

Thanks for sending in tips - several of you shared that a Houston contractor has acquired a West Coast marine builder. This and more in News from Companies.

2026 member dues are past due. Please renew your support for the driven pile today.

Just over a month 'til the deadline for entries in the 2026 Project of the Year Awards. Land, Marine, Earth Retention, Associate/Engineering categories await you!

From the Association & Chapters

Mark your calendars:

• March 3-7: CONEXPO-CON/AGG, Las Vegas, NV. PDCA partners in the triennial construction show, happening in multiple locations along The Strip.
• March 5: S.C. Chapter Driven Pile Technical Seminar, Charleston.The biennial event returns to The Citadel Holliday Alumni Center and features five presentations from industry professionals. Up to 5.5 PDH available.
• March 11-12: Gulf Coast Chapter Engineers Conference, Baton Rouge, LA. Crawfish boil at Tiger's Trail on Wednesday evening. Sessions at L'Auberge Casino & Hotel run from 8 AM to 4 PM Thursday. Up to seven PDH available, incl. one hour of Ethics.
• March 16-18: DFDTA Renaissance Orlando Airport Hotel (FL). A one-day seminar, two-day workshop and dynamic testing proficiency exam. Program in collaboration with Pile Dynamics, Inc.; it repeats in Cleveland in October.
• March 25: Due date for abstracts from aspiring IFCEE 2027 presenters.
• April 9: Value Driven Webinar Series, 2 PM ET. Greg Belpomme explains how civil constructors achieve stability through retention, workforce development.
• April 10: 2026 PDCA Project of the Year Awards entries DUE by close of business submit your projects via e-file for consideration.
• April 21-22: Engineers Driven Pile Institute, Houston Marriott West Loop. Up to 15 PDH available. Course instructs and prepares mid-level engineers to recommend, design and specify/inspect driven pile foundations.
• July 7-9: PDCA Annual Conference & Expo, Orlando, FL: Registration and exhibit space is open, get your room at the Four Seasons Disney World Resort.

From the PDCA Blog:

• School's out...still not summer in New Jersey  The Northeast Chapter delivered attendees up to six PDH through its annual Professional Development Course at host George Harms Construction Company.
• Cleveland Rocks  The Buckeye State Blitz brought the regional piling industry together for a Northeast Ohio networking event. Who was SPOTTED?
• Get to know your electeds! Three new members take seats on the 2026 PDCA Board of Directors. Meet Michael Wysockey from Thatcher Foundations, Lina Garcia-Martin from Orion and Tommy Haupt from Independent Pipe.
• Cal-transition  The Pacific Coast Chapter gathered under new leadership for its first 2026 meeting. Attendees learned about new initiatives and growth plans.

WINNER: Congratulations, Ronald Hoefeld, you are this month's winner! Send an email to marian@piledrivers.org before the end of March to claim your prize!

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News from PDCA Companies

Acquisitions & expansions:

• Orion expects to grow its marine construction footprint through its purchase of J.E. McAmis, Inc. The company announced its $60M transactionof the Vancouver-based heavy civil contractor on Feb. 4.
• Palmetto Pile Driving, Inc. unveils a new website, providing visitors insight into the Charleston, SC-based contractor and PSC supplier's capabilities.
• Triad Metals enhanced its website, reflecting a diverse steel products portfolio.
• Tolunay-Wong Engineers added 25 new staff in January; that qualifies as expansion. Then, an auspicious social postsays there's more to come. ⁉️
• UES welcomes B2 Environmental in Omaha, NE, into its family of companies.

Governmental relations:

• Bell Lumber & Pole adds 12 new jobs to increase production of Southern Yellow Pine piling at its growing De Queen, AR, facility. Gov. Sanders, Mayor Brown remarked about the Minnesota company's choice to invest in Arkansas.
• Dunham Price Group (DP Concrete Products) representatives participated in a panel discussion on energy policyin the Louisiana NOW Pavilion at Washington Mardi Gras. Several state/federal politicians attended the event.
• S&ME exhibited at the annual Alabama Transportation Conference, where newly promoted AVP Bennett Dulaney, P.E., snapped a photo of Gov. Ivey, who gave a keynote address to the large assembly at a Huntsville conference center.

Recognitions:

• Herbert F. Darling, Inc. wins New York public works organization award for its subcontracting contributions to the Genessee Valey Pump Station.
• McCarthy Building Cos. is featured in ENR for plans to creatively repurpose a shuttered hotel/convention center in Tempe, AZ, into a new employee campus.
• Power Engineering Construction shares in the 2025 Gold San Francisco Collaborative Partnering Award from the city's public works dept., for its work on the replacement and modernization of Fisherman's Wharf J9.
• Shimmick Corporation won an AGC California award for 301 Mission Perimeter Pile Upgrade. Also, ENR named it a West Regional Best Project.
• Gerhart Cole Inc. is the 2025 Consultant/Engineering Firm of the Year, as honored by AGC-Utah.

Giving back:

• Cape Romain Contractors hosted the nonprofit South Carolina Beach Advocates at its Hilton Head job site to promote communication between the parties. CRC explained the beach stabilization work it's performing.
• VEITon Ice 2026 is giving 100% of proceeds from its annual ice-fishing event to young people pursuing careers in construction trades. United Rentals, Nucor Skyline, JD Fields & Co., Triad Metals International were among sponsors.
• Tectonic Engineering Consultants, Geologists & Land Surveyors offer support to heart health awareness. Many participated in #NationalWearRedDay, and the firm sponsored the 2026 Hudson Valley Heart Walk.

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People on the Move

Transitions:

• John Platt is named SVP, Engineering, Procurement & Construction (EPC) Transformation at Bechtel in Houston. Through his appointment, he is charged with scaling AI-enabled EPC delivery across global operations.
• Jon Hefty becomes director of power foundations at New Jersey-based American Pile and Foundation, LLC.
• Ben Sizemore named strategic development manager at APC Construction.
• Sharon Hartley rises to VP Engineering at ICOP, Inc. in the DMV.
• Cesar Tapia is promoted to project manager at Keller in Miami.
• Jacob Lindh joins project controls at Mason Construction. After Lamar graduation, Jewell Capps becomes jr. project manager for the Texas contractor.
• Chase Collins is retained as a new project engineer, to begin upon graduating from The Citadel, in the East Coast offices of Russell Marine LLC. Also, Austin Gross elevates to regional director of operations.
• Evan VanderBloeman onboards as a new field engineer for VEIT.
• Boston Thorn rises to ops manager at Aggregate Technologies in Houston; Mitch Riordan named new sales representative.
• Braden Ford is a new project manager at CPS Houston.
• Joshua Brown is a new product support and sales rep at Equipment Corporation of America, covering a Michigan to West Virginia territory.
• Jason Jones is named VP Sales at Koppers Utility and Industrial Products.
• Robert Thompson, III, P.E., BC.GE, a longtime contributor to PDCA technical initiatives, retired from Dan Brown and Associates (UES) in February.
• David Mahoney, P.E., appointed new CEO at Dewberry; he assumes the role in the Fairfax, VA, office on April 1, and succeeds the retiring Donald Stone, Jr.
• Michael D. Venezia, P.E., relocates from the Chantilly, VA, offices of ECS Limited, to the Tampa, FL, office, where he will serve as principal engineer. Elsewhere, Imad El Hajjar, P.E., is the firm's new group manager in Cleveland.
• Berk Turkel, Ph.D., rises to professional Geosyntec Consultants in Boston.
• Andrew Blaisdell, P.E., G.E., is named new district office manager for the South Portland, ME, office of GZA GeoEnvironmental.
• Anthony DeVito, P.E., rises to principal at MRCE in New York City; also geotech Hiren Shah, P.E., Assoc. DBIA moves up to associate principal.
• Albert Jennings joins Lloyd Engineering LLC in Houston as a civil designer; Johan Geldenhuys onboards as port structural EIT.
• Sofia Schuyler (Panama City), Blair Chronister (Mobile) are new engineers at Southern Earth Sciences; Caleb Peytavin is a new CMT in New Orleans.
• Joe Robichaud, P.E., rises to senior principal at Terracon in upstate New York.
• Thomas McCarther elevates to director, Instrumentation and Testing, at Houston-based Tolunay-Wong Engineers, Inc.

Recognitions:

• Steven Chustz, a project manager at GROUP Contractors in Baton Rouge, has earned designation as an ECC Future Leader.
• Allie Brady from VEIT is serving as treasurer for the 2026 MBEX Board.
• Samara Stickler from Bottom Line Equipment participated in Build it Forward, a Houston mentoring initiative that introduces teens to construction methods.
• Fletcher Smith, chief engineer at Standard Concrete Products, was celebrated for serving as bridge committee chair at Georgia/Carolinas PCI.
• Timothy Shaner, CSP, health and safety director at Anchor QEA, is highlighted for his approach to safety as a culture, rather than just another program.
• Hank Pokigo of H&H is seated for a term as DBIA New England secretary; Fernanda Fischer, P.E., is the New Hampshire Young Engineer of the Year.
• Jhon Gilbert Landicho, P.E., is a senior engineer for PND Engineers, Inc. in Alaska. The newly-minted engineer is also an FHA-certified bridge inspector.
• Wes Lowder, P.E., is a highly tenured SVP at S&ME in Raleigh, NC; colleagues and staff there gathered to celebrate his 40 years on the job.
• Russell Nipper, a CMT tech at Southern Earth Sciences, Inc. in Mobile, AL, reaches 42 years at the firm.

In Sympathy:

• Cynthia Perry (1934-2026)  The longtime owner of the Troy, NY-based C.D. Perry & Sons, Inc., passed away Feb. 21. She is credited with fierce protection of the company legacy, and remembered as independent, resilient and steady.
• Roberto Guardia (1954-2026) was known by Shannon & Wilson colleagues as "brilliant...with an adventurous spirit." He was born in Puerto Rico, educated at the University of Illinois, honed his craft in Seattle and finished his career in Florida.

On the Job

East Coast Marine Construction & Design is building a boat ramp and parking lotfor the City of Port Orange, FL. Crews used an ICE vibro to install Meever USA steel sheets for a cofferdam, and also CMI Limited sheet pile for a boat ramp. ECA PileMaster air hammers will drive PSC and timber piling for a floating dock.

Linde-Griffith Construction shares aerial video from a Jersey City, NJ, job site where its crews are installing nearly 1,000 HP to bedrock.

Morris-Shea Bridge Co. expands foundations for a Panama City, FL, manufacturer. It erected two design-build cofferdams for SOE and self-performed supplemental CPTs. Then crews used a Hammer & Steel ABI to install sheet pilingfrom Shea inventory and Big Steel.

Patriot Construction & Industrial sent a crew to Memphis to install steel sheet piling from JD Fields & Co., using impact and vibratory hammers from APE. The installation is designed to stabilize the Mississippi River bank for a new terminal.

Power Engineering Construction is building an offshore platform using steel pipe from Edgen Murray, driven with an APE 300-4. Fugro is the GOR for the structure that will house critical weather instrumentation for San Francisco's airport.

Russell Marine reports on the successful completion of a multi-phase projectfor Mosaic GSS at Port Tampa Bay. Within the scope was a dock replacement for which crews removed a timber piling foundation and installed steel elements.

Scott Bridge Company, Inc., works with subcontractor Massman Construction Co., to replace the DuPont Bridge in Panama City, FL.APE hammers are among those that piling crews use to drive PSC. Terracon is GOR and test piling is complete.

Sealevel Construction updates progress on the massive Bayou Lafourche Pump Station project, designed to triple fresh water resources to the Donaldsonville, LA, area. Steel pipe and sheet piling found many components of the installation.

CMI Limited Co. shows off its SG950 sheet piling that was installed last summer in Hilton Head; it preserves the structural integrity and aesthetic at the iconic Salty Dog Cafe and South Beach Marina Village in South Carolina.

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Notes from the Field

"Steel City" was already taken, so the Toledo, OH, nickname remains Glass City, despite JD Fields & Co.'s efforts. The steel supplier sent vast quantities of HP, pipe and sheets to a Maumee River-side job site in Toledo, where Kokosing crews installed it with PILECO, APE and ICE hammers. It will become the new Glass City Riverwalk.

For a good time, call...S&ME? Yes, that was their company logo on the side of a replica vintage outhouse, built into a ski-mobile. Staff from the firm's Asheville, NC, office participated in the annual outhouse race, a Rotary Club fundraiser for local charities.

Laissez les bons temps rouler  A respected philanthropist and president/CEO of PDCA member Canal Barge in New Orleans served as 2026 Rex: King of Carnival. WDSU-TV explains the honor bestowed upon H. Merritt Lane III, his success aiding local initiatives, and the history of this unique tradition that is dear to his family.

Wanna buy a vowel? One of the most iconic game show hostesses is Vanna White, and she will turn the letters on the March 6 Wheel of Fortune for college student contestant Patrick Casale. According to our social feed, he is a cousin to CD Perry & Sons VP Tyler Fane, who publicly congratulates him for the unique honor.

We are a full two months into 2026; if you haven't already, please remit your 2026 member dues immediately. Call or email PDCA at marian@piledrivers.org if you need assistance with your account, or something else. Thank you for your support.

Also, thanks for readingwe will see you back here on April 1!