Membership benefits of PDCA and its local chapters

The Pile Driving Contractors Association (PDCA) is the only association globally that exclusively represents the driven pile industry.
PDCA offers the strength and experience of its more than two decades as an association representing the driven pile industry and provides a forum for members to promote driven piles in all cases where they are effective.
PDCA members include contractors, equipment and materials manufacturers and suppliers, engineers, academicians and end-users that take a dedicated and proactive approach to advancing the benefits of the driven pile, such as environmental benefits, efficiency, cost-effectiveness and rapid productivity.
PDCA membership gives contractors a larger voice in influencing and establishing procedures and standards for the installation of driven piles.
PDCA members meet and work directly with all public agencies to ensure our industry is equally represented in all deep foundations and earth retention design and construction specifications.
PDCA members share up-to-date and relevant industry information in the areas of equipment, technology, safety, business and more, so contractors can stay on the cutting edge of efficiency and productivity designed to increase their financial bottom line.
PDCA members work with other non-competitive groups on issues of mutual concern to the deep foundation industry.

The best way to gain value from your PDCA and chapter membership is simply to get involved. Ask any PDCA member how!


PDCA chapters and locations
PDCA chapters conduct regular meetings to provide members a local forum to be able to network, while also featuring industry keynote speakers from the driven pile and deep foundations industry. Regionally, the chapters host and conduct technical seminars and conferences to educate contractors, engineers and others associated with the pile driving industry.
All PDCA members are encouraged to join a chapter. Find out more information about a chapter near you at www.piledrivers.org/chapters.

PDCA of the Northeast Chapter
Connecticut, Maine, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and Vermont

PDCA of the Mid-Atlantic Chapter
Delaware, Maryland, North Carolina, Virginia, Washington D.C.

PDCA of South Carolina Chapter
North Carolina and South Carolina

PDCA of Florida Chapter
Florida

PDCA of the Gulf Coast Chapter
Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi

PDCA of Texas Chapter
Texas

PDCA of the Pacific Coast Chapter
Arizona, California, Colorado, Nevada, New Mexico, Wyoming

PDCA of the Pacific Northwest Chapter
Alaska, Idaho, Montana, Oregon, Washington, Alberta and British Columbia 

PDCA committees
PDCA encourages all members to participate on a committee of their choice.
Committee participation is voluntary; however, it is a great way to add value to your membership for those who choose to be actively involved. Joining and participating on a PDCA committee aligns you with like-minded industry individuals seeking to achieve common goals. Your industry and personal career will benefit.
Contact the PDCA office to find out more about how to join a committee. All interested PDCA members are invited to attend committee conference calls at any time to see if that committee is right for you.
PDCA committees include:
Associate Member Council
Chapters
Communications
Contracts and Risk
Education
Finance
Market Development
Membership
Safety and Environment
Steel Sheet Pile
Technical

Education
PDCA members, especially those who serve on the PDCA Education Committee, have developed many educational programs aimed at ensuring the long-term sustainability and safety of the driven pile industry.
PDCA's current education programming includes:
PDCA Annual International Conference & Expo
Design and Installation of Cost-Efficient Piles Conference (DICEP)
Deep Foundation Dynamic Testing and Analysis Workshop
Pile Load Test Options Course
Pile Driving Inspectors Course
Pile Driving Professionals Development Course
Steel Bearing Piles & Sheet Walls in Infrastructure
Engineers' Driven Pile Institute (EDPI)
Professors' Driven Pile Institute (PDPI)
International Foundations Congress & Equipment Expo (IFCEE)
Portable training programs about piling equipment, testing and more

Communications
PileDriver is published six times annually and features PDCA member companies and project stories; industry articles related to technical, legal and safety issues; and other relevant topics dedicated to the pile driving industry.
www.piledrivers.org is PDCA's official website, containing a broad base of information about PDCA, its members, industry resources and other industry news.
The PDCA e-Letter is emailed monthly to PDCA's subscriber list to provide up-to-date information on PDCA's activities, events, seminars, workshops and member news.
The PDCA Membership Directory is an annual directory that includes contact information for all categories of PDCA members in good standing for the year.
The PDCA Wall Calendar is published annually in October and distributed with Issue 5 of PileDriver. The calendar includes important PDCA dates to keep on your schedule for the following year.

Posted in PileDriver Magazine. Tagged as Issue 5, 2018.

Your Local PDCA Chapters

PDCA of the Pacific Coast ChapterDermot Fallon, Foundation ConstructorsOakley, CAPhone: 925-754-6633dfallon@foundationpile.com
PDCA of the Northeast ChapterErich Kremer, R. Kremer & Son Marine Contractors, LLCBrick, NJPhone: 732-477-8012kremermarine@comcast.net
PDCA of the Pacific Northwest ChapterBill Marczewski, BSM EngineeringAstoria, ORPhone: 503-791-5070bill@bsmengineering.com
PDCA of South Carolina ChapterJohn King, Pile Drivers, Inc.Hollywood, SC Phone: 843-763-7736 kingpiledrive@aol.com
PDCA of the Gulf Coast ChapterMichael Kelly, Gulf South Piling and ConstructionJefferson, LAPhone: 504-834-7791gspmichael@bellsouth.ne
PDCA of the Mid-Atlantic ChapterMarty CorcoranPhone: 443-463-2404patmar2021@gmail.com

PDCA of Florida ChapterChair open Contact the PDCA office for more information

PDCA of Texas ChapterChair open Contact the PDCA office for more information



Members are encouraged to contact PDCA if, for whatever reason, you are unable to contact any of the above chapter representatives or want to enquire about more than one chapter.

PDCA Orange Park, FLPhone: 904-215-4771news@piledrivers.org

Posted in PileDriver Magazine. Tagged as Issue 5, 2018.

Out of the Ordinary

In the parched Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, there's precious little that is made of wood. When the designers of a new park in the Saudi port city of Al Jubail needed help with wooden pilings for walking piers, they found their answer with a unique product made in the U.S.A.
Manufactured by American Pole and Timber, gun barrel pilings are specialty milled poles that, unlike other round wooden pilings, have a uniform diameter from tip to butt. This past summer, 187 of them, each measuring 12 inches in diameter and ranging from 24 to 40 feet in length, were sent by container ship to Saudi Arabia, where they'll be driven to support three 150-foot long wooden bridges being constructed to provide access to an island within the park in Al Jubail.
Eric Lincoln, senior vice-president of sales for American Pole and Timber, maintains the project is the first of its kind in the Middle Eastern country. The designers, he says, were seeking a highly distinctive look and they determined that wood was the way to go.
"They wanted to use something that looks really nice," said Lincoln, adding that an obvious barrier was the scarcity of lumber in Saudi Arabia.
"They don't really do any wood construction at all over there. Everything is always done with concrete because there are no trees," he said. "They are not traditional users of wood, so this is going to be a very new thing for them."
Lincoln says the project contractors sent a small group of engineers and Saudi government officials to American Pole and Timber's headquarters and manufacturing facility in Houston, Texas, for three days in May so they could see first-hand how gun barrel poles were made and learn the basics of wood construction.
According to Lincoln, the crash course included looking at the characteristics of wood, how various treatments affect its longevity and what kinds of treatments are available for different types of applications.
For the Saudi Arabian project, the timber pilings were made from southern yellow pine (gun barrel poles are also available in white pine, western red cedar, white cedar and oak). Because they were being installed in salt water, the pilings were treated with a 2.5 pcf CCA wood preservative and they were also treated with a special polymer coating to provide additional protection.
Gun barrel pilings are purported to be excellent choices in applications in or near water. American Pole and Timber maintains that because they have no exposed heartwood as many square timbers have, the poles are less susceptible to attack by termites and marine borers, and their round shape also enables them to withstand storm surges better than square timber pilings.

Importance of aesthetics 
According to Lincoln, the gun barrel poles are often used in applications where aesthetics are a primary consideration, which is why a growing number of zoos, theme parks and vacation resorts are now using them in the U.S. and other locations around the world, such as Hong Kong, Jamaica and Belize.
Lincoln says the pilings are not only visually impressive, but they also provide strong support and are usually easier to install than regular, tapered wooden poles.
"A traditional wooden pole is a tree that's just been peeled so it has all the normal things that you would find in a tree, but a gun barrel pole is a perfect shaft," he said. "It's perfectly straight, and it's dimensionally sound the entire way."
Lincoln notes that gun barrel poles are most frequently used in place of square timber piles and he maintains there's not much difference in price between the two options. 
Lincoln describes gun barrel poles as a signature product for American Pole and Timber and he says he's not aware of any other businesses producing the specialty milled, uniform diameter poles in the same sizes that his company can provide.
"It's one of those things that people know us for. They know that we can do them and that we can do big ones," said Lincoln.
"We've manufactured some specialty equipment and machinery to be able to make them as big as we make them," he said, pointing out that gun barrel poles can be made from five to up to 20 inches in diameter and up to 52 feet in length.
"We can even make them 60 feet long if we can find the tree," Lincoln said.
American Pole and Timber was founded 27 years ago by William Plant and Dorian Benn, who is now the sole owner following Plant's death earlier this year. The company offers extended life building materials, distinctive manufacturing services and building materials solutions for a wide range of marine, industrial and commercial builders and manufacturers.
According to Lincoln, approximately 50 percent of the company's customers are in Texas, with the rest of the U.S. adding about 30 percent of their market and international clients accounting for the rest. t
Photos courtesy of American Pole and Timber

Posted in PileDriver Magazine. Tagged as Issue 5, 2018.

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