The PDCA South Carolina Chapter realigned its schedule for member dinner meetings; the first of such events for 2026 took place on May 14 at the Town and Country Inn & Suites in Charleston and offered attendees a full plate of industry content, as well as a full plate (if they chose to fill it) of buffet-style, southern home cookin'. Following the customary, networking social hour with an open bar, Chapter President Jason Moore opened the formal meeting. He recapped the two successful Chapter events that have already taken place in 2026, the January Oyster Roast and the March Driven Pile Technical Seminar. He also discussed some new initiatives the Chapter will be offering the regional industry in coming months. He thanked the dinner meeting sponsors, which include: Palmetto Pile Driving, Inc., ICE, Inc., and Valiant Steel and Equipment, Inc. And before dinner began, he welcomed back Chapter Past President and industry retiree Scott Nigels to bless the food.

 

 

 

The evening's technical program featured a case study on a local pile driving construction project. Sean Vandedrinck who leads East Coast operations for Russell Marine LLC presented an in-depth review of the Pier November project, where the contractor modernized a portion of a U.S. Coast Guard waterfront installation in Charleston. He detailed his team's work which included pile extraction and installation, bulkhead replacement, concrete work, and more. Vandedrinck also credited other PDCA members which contributed to the project, including equipment suppliers ICE, Inc., and PILECO, Inc., and PSC piling producer Standard Concrete Products. Following his presentation, he fielded several questions from the audience, and continued taking one-on-one questions for the remainder of the evening.

 

 

Also taking place during the South Carolina dinner meeting was the special recognition of Van Hogan, an industry retiree who significantly contributed to the growth of both PDCA and the S.C. Chapter during his years of active employment as a piling contractor. The longtime representative of pile driving company Ed Waters & Sons, Inc. received a formal introduction from colleague and friend Harry Robbins, founder of the South Carolina Chapter. Mr. Robbins detailed Hogan's career which included service as PDCA President, a committee chair, as well as an eventual employee of the organization where he directly contributed to its growth. Following his heartfelt remarks of appreciation to the audience, Hogan was presented the Harry Robbins Chapter Award from Moore and Robbins.