PDCA visits Houston offices of JD Field & Co. (L-R: Frank Peters, Arjin Dogan, Carol Smith, Alwyn McDowall, Kathy Harper)
September featured a variety of events at PDCA. In addition to the PDCA Texas Chapter Golf Tournament and DICEP '23 both being in Houston on consecutive days, the monthly installment of the Value Driven - PDCA Webinar Series was a third event taking place during the same week. Longtime Associate Member JD Fields & Company agreed to host PDCA in its Houston offices to conduct the webinar; the PDCA broadcast team consisting of Executive Director Frank Peters and Education Director Kathy Harper, who were already in the city for previous events, originated the broadcast in a Fields conference room. The program featured Alwyn McDowall, a Business Development Engineer with the steel piling supplier, who presented the hour-long webcast examining the use of steel pilings in U.S. infrastructure.
Mr. McDowall's presentation was entitled Heavy Highway/Bridge Infrastructure Webinar - DOT Piles. He discussed the features and benefits of domestic steel piling - including pipe, H-piles, and steel sheets - for use in heavy highway transportation and bridge geostructures. The program was topical and timely considering the U.S. government's recent execution of the $1 trillion Federal Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, which earmarks funds across all 50 states to repair and upgrade these failing transportation structures. The webinar addressed what the Federal Highway Administration and Department of Transportation agencies recognize as scour, a leading risk to bridge structures.
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Following the monthly webinar, McDowall toured the PDCA visitors around the JD Fields' offices located in Houston's historic Wortham Tower. A newer tenant in the building, the steel supplier has made the suite home, which is complete with framed pictures of Fields' steel mill and other interests. After the office tour, the team visited the Houston steel mill for another tour of yet another historic building in the city, the JDF/HDM Spriralweld Mill; the facility was once home to a U.S. Dept. of Defense contractor's submarine manufacturing facility during World War II. PDCA thanks JD Fields & Co. for its ongoing support of the pile driving industry and for hosting the organization during a Houston visit.
 A photo of the Fields' nearby steel mill decorates the office breakroom |
 PDCA tours the JDF/HDM Spiralweld Mill in Houston |
The next installment of the Value Driven - PDCA Webinar Series takes place at 2:00 PM EDT on October 12th; the program is entitled Estimating the Bearing Capacity for Vibro Driven Bearing Piles. Meantime, September 2023 events aren't done at PDCA. Please join us at Cheers! to New England Pile Drivers, a FREE networking reception on Sept. 28th in Waltham, Mass.
