A Pile of News: November 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 Nov. 3, 2025

Top of the Pile

Down in Mississippi  We are excited to see you at the PDCA Driven Pile Academy, Nov. 1013 in Port Bienville, MS. Program info for attendees is on the link; don't forget PPE! Thanks to the PDCA Associate Member Council for developing this one-of-a-kind pile driving school, as well as sponsors and contributors who make it possible.

It only takes 90 seconds! PDCA voting members will receive an email from Election Runner this month; this is your ballot for the 2026 PDCA Board of Directors and Officers elections. It includes a slate of nominated candidates, or you may write in individual(s) of your choice for any of the positions. But please vote! You will receive weekly reminders until your ballot is submitted. All ballots are due Nov. 28.

• This could be you  PDCA elections happen each November, however the leadership positions are term-limited. That means there are open seats each year. If you or someone you know is interested in volunteering to serve on the PDCA Board of Directors, please contact PDCA to learn more.

Founding Father  After 56 years in pile driving, Wayne Waters (pictured) tells PDCA he closed EWS Construction Consulting on Nov. 1, and will move to Retired Member.

• He owned Ed Waters & Sons Contracting in Florida for 50 years, before consulting. During his career, he was a founding member of the PDCA Board in 1995 and served as president in 2004. Wayne helped build the foundation on which 30-year-old PDCA sits today.

• With five adult children and nine grandkids (ages 1019), he looks forward to more ballgames, dance recitals and quality family time. Party on, Wayne!

From the Association & Chapters

Mark your calendars:

• Nov. 12: Northeast Chapter Casino Night, Newark, NJ, 6-9 PM. Members and friends will meet at Don Pepe's restaurant for an industry presentation from David Borger of Nucor Skyline, buffet style apps and open bar. After business, high rollers can hit the casino floor no-cash gaming!

• Nov. 10-13: PDCA Driven Pile Academy, Port Bienville, MS. Don't miss the only field training event for pile drivers! It happens every three years.

• Nov. 20: South Carolina Chapter Dinner Meeting, Charleston, 6 PM. Networking, buffet and program; a Citadel Cadet will win the Nigels Scholarship.

• Nov. 21: Gulf Coast Chapter Clay Shoot, Covey Rise Lodge, Husser, LA. Individuals and teams welcome. Sponsors encouraged.

• Dec. 4: Value Driven Webinar Series, Virtual, 2 PM. Law partner Edwin A. Bayó presents Laws, Rules & Ethics Governing Practice of Engineering in Florida.

• Dec. 10: Texas Chapter Elections & Happy Hour, Houston, 6-8 PM. Members to elect a new president, VP and secretary.

From The PDCA Blog:

• Behind the curtain  The Texas Chapter organized a facility tour of PILECO, Inc. in Conroe; attendees learned about hammer manufacturing and operations.

• Not as backward as they used to be  Nashville met expectations for the DFI Golden Jubilee. PDCA was a cooperating organization and many members attended, exhibited and presented during the DFI 50th Annual Conference.

• Certified in Cleveland  Geoprofessionals attended October DFDTA at Pile Dynamics, Inc., a biannual workshop/seminar with PDCA.

• Aiding in tragedy PDCA joined Baltimore businesses for a BINGO night fundraiser supporting families of fallen workers through Construction Angels.

• Nothing finer  Geotechnical professionals gathered in Charlotte for GeoCarolinas 2025; the South Carolina Chapter hosted a reception and PDCA members participated as attendees, exhibitors and presenters.

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

News from PDCA Companies

Recognitions:

• Blue Iron Foundations & Shoring staff gets certified in CPR and first aid.

• CIANBRO partners with SAFEProject a 501(c)(3), to provide resources for workplace health and wellbeing. A PSA in ENR features an unnamed employee.

• McCarthy Building Cos. is a Houston Business Journal Best Place to Work.

• Alfred Miller Companies awarded BechtelTop Supplier at Virginia ceremony.

Giving back:

• Baker Gulf Coast Industrial contributed to the record haul that Scouting America collected for its 23rd Annual Sporting Clays fundraiser in Baton Rouge.

• Mason Construction brought employee veterans and first responders to a Port Arthur, TX, Chamber luncheon it sponsored. The luncheon raised $20K to send to central Texas flood victims.

• The Great Lakes Construction Company superintendents donated time and expertise to make site improvements at Hope Meadows, a non-profit equine-assisted therapy program near Cleveland.

• Lodge Lumber Co. observed Breast Cancer Awareness Month through an October donation to advance research and support those impacted.

• Koppers, Inc. concluded another season of Strikeouts for a Cause, which generated $32,850 for local and national non-profits. The timber piling supplier donates funds based on the success of the Pittsburgh Pirates pitchers.

• American Engineering Testing, Inc. sponsored the Keys to Success Gala, a fundraiser supporting community services in Minneapolis-St. Paul.

• Dewberry staff volunteer to improve communities. The firm applauds its Richmond, VA, Cubmaster, associates working environmental clean-ups in North Carolina and New Jersey, and an urban farm advocate in Orlando.

• ECS Group of Companies is the namesake for the new Geotechnical Testing Chamber in the structural engineering lab at Auburn University. Company leaders and school administrators dedicated the new installation last month.

• Lloyd Engineering raised awareness for St. Jude and its fight against childhood cancer when several employees took part in the annual Houston Walk/Run.

• Tolunay-Wong Engineers COO Matthew Wong and Texas Children's Hospital patient Mia lit the torch of hope; the firm joins the fight against pediatric cancer.

Acquisitions & expansions:

• ESP Associates, Inc. announces that its Cornelius, NC, office has relocated to nearby Huntersville. This facility serves the northern Charlotte region.

• Haley & Aldrich celebrated the opening of its newest office in Charlotte where the firm hosted a bowling social for clients and staff.

Governmental relations:

• AET performed pile testing, geotechnical analyses and more as part of the construction team that put a lid on what locals called the "can of worms," an historically problematic intersection for I-35 in Duluth, MN. Gov. Walz, U.S. Rep. Stauber and project leaders cut the ribbon for the new Twin Ports Interchange.

• Atlas Tube A Zekelman Company manufactures steel in the U.S. and Canada. Amid the ongoing trade war between both countries, CEO Barry Zekelman joins the public conversation as covered in the Windsor Star.

People on the Move

Transitions:

• Mark Stuessy spent a more than 30-year career at Manson Construction, Co. The recent retiree has now received his well-deserved Liberty Bell.

• Bob Ledford joins the Board of Directors at Orion, effective Nov. 19.

• Hannah Shuren is named to inside sales at Associated Pile and Fitting.

• Neil Eibler becomes a new business development manager covering sales in the northeastern U.S. for JD Fields & Co.

• Tim Dutton becomes operations manager for Equipment Corporation of America in Philadelphia.

• Kristen Fail rises to chief strategy and integration officer at ARG Industrial.

• Thomas Lane moves up to senior sales manager at Koppers Utility & Industrial Products.

• Dr. Mishac K. Yegian, P.E., Fellow ASCE joins H&H as chief seismic engineer. In addition, he will support the firm's geotech and bridge engineering practices. Harry White, P.E., left NYSDOT to join the firm as chief bridge engineer.

• Meaghan Gould, Peyton Wallior, Jenisha Chhetri and Luis Hoyos join Shannon & Wilson offices in Alaska, Denver and Seattle as new geotechs.

Recognitions:

• Brian Hill bought a poster at K-Mart 30+ years ago, which inspired him to one day climb North America's tallest mountain. Last spring, the Baker Pile Driving PM in New Orleans left the Louisiana swamps to conquer Alaska's Denali.

• Katie Woodhall, safety director at Beaver Excavating Company, shares perspectives on safety culture in the CheckProof's Breaking Ground podcast.

• Dr. Robert Bowen, founder of Bowen Engineering, and his wife Terry, gave $100K to the University of Evansville Construction Management program.

• Jordan Henshaw, a regional infrastructure manager at CIANBRO in Maine, is the new president of the Construction Institute, an ASCE organization.

• Ben Tornberg from Manson is an ENR West Top Young Professional.

• Jerrad Jefferson from McCarthy is the Advocate of the Year as honored by the Houston Minority Supplier Development Council.

• Krista Miller of Orion thanks Texas co-workers Joe Hiebert, Louis Martinez and Christopher Velguth for help in a scary tollway traffic incident.

• Shana Carroll, president at D.W. Kozera, makes the list of Baltimore leaders in business, activism and research. It's the Baltimore Sun "25 Women to Watch."

• Marty J. Smith, P.E., reaches 25 years at ESP Associates, Inc. in Ft. Mill, SC.

• Isabella Kennedy from GZA GeoEnvironmental finished in first place in the women's division of the DFI 5K during the Annual Conference last month.

• John Peirce, Peirce Engineering owner, got certified in cybersecurity training.

• Glenn Bell, former CEO, chairman and principal at SGH, is featured in The Structural Engineer. He gives a Gold Medal Address from London on Nov. 7.

• Mark Stier, P.E., PG, James Duesel, Orcutt James, Bryan Figurski from Tectonic achieved a three-peat after winning the ACEC Mid-Hudson golf event.

• Pat DiCerbo, Northwestern Mutual agent and PDCA affiliated services member, finished his 20th Ironman competition, the latest in Sacramento, CA.

On the Job

APC Construction is on a New Orleans USACE project to control Mississippi River seepage. Crews use an APE vibro to drive steel sheets from JD Fields & Co.

Bowen Engineering crews used a Hercules Machinery Corp. STR20 to install steel piling for a new solar farm near Columbus, IN that will supply city-owned utilities.

C.D. Perry & Sons crews install foundation elements to expand the Albany Capital Center in New York. In Phase 1, they used an ICE diesel hammer to drive 103 spliced H-piles from Triad Metals. The EOR is Terracon.

Cape Romain Contractors built a new USACE bridge in Fort Jackson, SC. Crews used an APE impact hammer to drive H-pile from Consolidated Pipe & Supply.

Continental Heavy Civil Corp. is reconstructing a waterfront roadway for Sarasota County, FL. Crews aboard a Flexifloat barge used ICE hammers to drive temporary sheets from Meever USA, and will later install permanent sheets from Triad Metals. H&H is the EOR for this project.

Island Piling, Inc. crews used their PileMaster 3000 to install 131 PSC piles, averaging 54 feet in length, for a new home build in North Fort Myers, FL.

Manson Construction won a $72.6M bid from the U.S. Navy to upgrade Blount Island in Jacksonville, FL. Crews will drive 200+, 24-inch square PSC piles.

Morris-Shea Bridge Co. crews are installing piles for a new manufacturing facility in Tanner, AL, using a company-owned PILECO D19-42. Big Steel supplied the 12x53 HP for the project on which Terracon serves is EOR.

Scott Bridge Co. crews used company-owned ICE hammers to drive 18-inch and 24-inch metal shell piling from Big Steel for the first of two GDOT bridges over the Satilla River near Waycross, GA. The team has begun work on the second bridge.

Sealevel Construction is building a floodwall and bridge near Cut Off, LA, for an area conservation district. Work includes significant driven pile installation, including H-pile, sheet pile and concrete square pile. See the list of milestones crews have met.

Taplin Group, which features an elk silhouette in its company logo, is replacing a dam in remote, northern Michigan for Huron Pines and the DNR. Crews drove PZ-27 steel sheets from Samuel Roll Form Group. And in what we are told makes this project "on brand," their social post includes a picture of a mama elk and her twins strolling by the job site.

MKT Manufacturing Inc. built this crane-hung, V-22 vibro, which contractor crews used to install steel sheet piling for a Lafayette, LA soil stabilization project.

Nucor Skyline provided pipe and sheet piles for The Walsh Group to install during construction of the I-395 Signature Bridge, a new highlight to Miami's evolving skyline.

Geosciences Testing and Researchperform PDA and on-site QC pile inspection for a runway improvement project at Boston's Logan Airport. Crews use ICE impact hammers to install piles that will support a concrete platform over Boston Harbor.

Notes from the Field

Lucky Ducks  The Lions Club in Kenai, AK, coordinated the spectacle of 900 rubber ducks racing down an area river to support community programs. It was the 30th annual event. No experience was needed for this first-time participant. The local ARG Industrial branch submitted Patriotic Duck, which won Honorable Mention.

Meanwhile in Blue Jay Nation  Ontario yard staff at Interpipe, Inc. Canada were treated to an impromptu reggae performance to start the Canadian Thanksgiving weekend. While this trucker waited to load pipe, he fired up his portable karaoke machine, stood on the truck's side step and serenaded everyone in earshot.

Looking for cute puppy pictures? In partnership with Portsmouth Humane Society, MEB held a donation drive to collect supplies for pets in the Virginia community. During the event, the Humane Society brought adoptable pets to the MEB offices, which resulted in new homes for one puppy and three kittens.

Callin' Baton Rouge  The 2025 LSU Homecoming King has PDCA cred. T'senre Gray is a construction management intern at Cajun Industries, and previously was a field tech at Premier Geotech and Testing. Since 2020, he has served as a National Guardsman. The Tigers have a history producing top-notch construction preauxs.

Ramblin' Wreck  PDCA members are visiting colleges this time of year, recruiting for interns and future staff. Massman Construction stopped at Georgia Tech for a career fair, and hopefully stayed Saturday to see the national title-contending football team! Writing that sentence wasn't on our Bingo card in back in August.

Thanks for reading, be sure to send us news and exciting updates from your PDCA member company. We will see you on Dec. 2, the last time for 2025!