A Pile of News: May 2022
A briefing on news and information from the pile driving contractors, associated manufacturers, construction suppliers and affiliated engineers who comprise the PDCA.
by Matt Bisbee, PDCA
Originally sent May 2, 2022
This Friday is the DEADLINE to submit to the 2022 PDCA Project of the Year Awards program. Judges will promptly begin reviewing the land, marine, earth retention and associate/engineering affiliate entries; winners to be featured in the August PileDriver magazine. Please submit your completed entries via electronic file share by close of business on May 6. Contact PDCA with questions. Good luck!
From the Association & Chapters
Mark your calendars!
 
Contractors Foundation Institute – The Driven Pile Academy
The first-of-its-kind program sold out; it brought 85 students, 25 professional industry instructors and $10M in piling equipment to a 20-acre construction facility in Duson, LA in April. Attendees engaged in onsite classroom instruction and hands-on equipment training in the field. More coverage below:
 
Chapter news:
  • PDCA Gulf Coast Chapter Engineers Conference with crawfish boil (March 31): PHOTOS
  • PDCA Pacific Coast Chapter Scholarship Shoot (April 29): PHOTOS COMING IN JUNE EDITION
  • PDCA Texas Chapter – Business meeting May 10 at 15415 Market St. in Channelview, TX. Chapter dues must be paid to attend. Contact PDCA at info@piledrivers.org.
 
PDCA past president Michael Justason, P.Eng. earns appointment to the Canadian Society for Civil Engineering, recognizing his work in geotechnical and foundation engineering. His career spans years as a private sector consultant on driven pile projects across four continents – with an affinity for statnamic testing – to more recently a professor shaping the minds of future engineers at McMaster University.

In other news:
  • Federal agency (SEC) proposes mandated, climate-related regulation; Haley & Aldrich updates.
  • Supreme Court decision on construction permitting elicits diverging reactions; from ENR.
Jordan Pile Driving Inc., you are this month’s winner!
Send an email to marian@piledrivers.org before the end of May to claim your prize!
News from PDCA Companies
Acquisitions & expansions:

Governmental relations:

Recognitions:

Giving back:
People on the Move
Transitions:
  • Austin Shanfelter moves from board chairman to interim CEO at Orion Marine Group. He follows Mark Stauffer, who has served the company since 1999, most recently as president/CEO.
  • Colin Percy is new VP of business development at Patriot Construction & Industrial in Louisiana.
  • Kristine Newman elevates to CFO at McCarthy, replacing Doug Audiffred, who retires. Calling her “an inspirational and trustworthy leader,” the company issued a public welcome.
  • David Witsken is new CEO at Universal Engineering Sciences (UES); he is based in Orlando.
  • Stephen Borgmann named northeast sales engineer at GeoStructures, serving NJ, NY, PA.
  • Tim Dittmeier returns to Hammer & Steel; based in North Florida, the 15-year industry veteran will oversee sales activity throughout the Southeast.
  • Jacob Tackett is new parts manager for Company Wrench at Ohio HQ; Brian Baum joins the team as North Florida sales manager.
  • Sierra Ponvelle is new to Louisiana-based Ardaman & Associates as proposal coordinator.
  • Cody Wallace, P.E. named new branch manager to Tallahassee, FL office of ECS, Limited.
  • Kenlon Wells named new staff engineer at Geo-Technology Associates, Inc. (GTA)
  • Haley Puntin joins GZA GeoEnvironmental as an engineer in Bedford, NH office.
  • Noel Morales becomes certification coordinator at Precast/Prestressed Concrete Institute.
  • Monty McGreevy hangs up the hard hat at JD Fields after 27 years.

Recognitions:

In memoriam:
  • Dennis Nottingham, co-founder of PND Engineers, Inc., has passed away. He leaves a legacy as designer of several noteworthy bridges in Alaska, among other regional distinctions. He earned worldwide acclaim for developing the proprietary OPEN CELL SHEET PILETM bulkhead technology.
On the Job
AXIOM Foundations completed installation of retaining walls comprised of Junttan-driven steel sheets from JD Fields for an $8M, public stormwater relief installation in SC.
 
Baker GCI continues work expanding a renewable diesel production facility for REG in Geismar, LA; elsewhere, its team completes the piling scope, which involved installation of both timber and concrete, for Diamond Green Diesel in Port Arthur.
 
Balfour Beatty wins a $697.8-million design-build contract from the USACE to build new office/parking facility at Fort Meade in Maryland; it will serve the NSA, U.S. Cyber Command operations.
 
Cape Romain Contractors is on the construction roster of Avian Commons, a “next-gen” industrial park facility bringing work-life balance to employees at Camp Hall in Charleston, SC. Soil Consultants, Inc. performs testing/inspection for the site foundation. See drone imagery of progress.
 
Kokosing Construction Company has begun work on the southward expansion of Arlington National Cemetery near Washington, DC; Jinnings Equipment provides a hydraulic impact hammer for the crew that is driving 48-inch pipe pilings in the project’s current phase.
 
Manson Construction operations in Jacksonville, FL hosted corporate legal and insurance personnel for a visit to job sites in the Florida-Georgia region, providing ground-level perspective on projects.
 
RJ Gorman Marine Construction is installing two timber fixed/floating marinas in Florida’s Panhandle, one with 135 wet slips and one with 65. Both are for the same private sector client.
 
 
Copier Machinery writes about technology-driven improvements to manufacturing. The steel pipe fabricator addresses new technologies it incorporates, such as M2M solutions and IoT connectivity.

Equipment Corporation of America provided the capping system so crews could finish a steel sheet pile wall that Parker Marine installed for a new waterfront hotel in Charleston, SC.
 
Eustis Engineering shapes a new attraction on the lower Mississippi River. Its geotechnical explorations at ports from Vicksburg, MS, to New Orleans help prepare for the launch of a new tourism vessel.
 
Geo-Technology Associates, Inc. performed cone penetration testing and vibration monitoring during pile installation for the Big Chill Beach Club, a 200-seat oceanfront restaurant on Delaware’s seashore.
 
Thomas & Hutton shares drone photography from construction partner Cape Romain Contractors on progress of the new Battery Park Pedestrian Bridge, soon to open in North Charleston, SC.
 
UES is among contributors to a recently completed interchange between Florida’s Turnpike and I-4 in Orlando; the firm’s Jacksonville deep foundations team is singled out for critical support on the project.
Media Hits
ENR carries a comprehensive article on the $25M ferry terminal nearing completion in New Orleans. As we’ve noted, APC Construction is part of the JV working to build the public facility. Joel McLain gives thoughtful quotes about the unique conditions that the Mississippi River can present to a contractor.
 
FFJournal interviews Kim Olson, technical initiatives manager at Nucor, on the company's commitment to sustainability; it’s a special Q&A in the publication chronicling technology in manufacturing.
 
MAREJ publishes a perspective from ECS Limited LLC VP Michael J. Sladki, P.E., who provides safety considerations for waterfront deck and dock builders.
 
Timber Processing features a cover photo of Gilbert Products’ high-speed planer on the April publication.
Notes from the Field
Can’t find ‘em?…create ‘em! The Home Builders Institute (HBI) is a collaboration of Buildstrong Academy, The Home Depot Foundation and The Drew Brees Foundaton. The group aims to develop a construction-trained workforce in New Orleans. The concept has caught on; a team from McCarthy recently visited HBI (and the Super Bowl MVP), as it prepares to launch a program chapter in Houston.
 
Throwing Axe – You’ve likely noticed that axe throwing is a popular modern pastime. PDCA members join the masses in flocking to this social activity and we want to share a couple notable examples. First, RJ Gorman Marine hosted a staff retreat at Axe Throwing PCB. Lodge Lumber promotes Abilene Axe Company, which uses its pine for target-backs. Then, S&ME, Inc. project manager Heath Forbes and his wife own and operate Lumber Jill’s Axe Throwing Lounge near Charleston, SC.
 
Instant gratification – We applaud Pinnacle Drilling Products R&D for pursuing the unimaginable. With a pending patent, instant holes are apparently loaded on their truck for distribution. Buyers who own appropriate tool-less equipment are presumably lining up to schedule deliveries. Thanks, LinkedIn, for obscuring posting dates; the “April 1” on this was not readily available to this reader.
 
If you have read all the way to the end, thank you. Also, congratulations – you get to read our FOURTH reminder to submit your entry to the 2022 PDCA Project of the Year Awards by close of business Friday. To date, we have a number of entries, many from companies who haven’t previously taken advantage of this benefit of membership. PDCA looks forward to receiving the winning entries from the Judge’s Panel this summer so we can begin work on the highly anticipated PileDriver magazine – Project of the Year Edition, coming your way in August. That is, if you get your entries to us! We leave you with an early Happy Mother’s Day to the moms out there.
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