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A Pile of News: May 2026

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 May 1, 2026

Top of the pile:

What goes up... Our job is to promote things going into Earth, but April's successful Artemis II mission that took three Americans and a Canadian out of this world and around the moon gets a special shout-out. Several PDCA members had tangential roles in last month's historic accomplishment.

At the risk of missing contributing member companies, we salute those who have publicly shared instances of professional support to NASA and, specifically, the Artemis II mission. Bechtel built ground systems at the Kennedy Space Center (KSC) launch site; Canal Barge provided water transportation for the Space Launch System to KSC; and Orion built the driven pile-supported NASA Causeway Bridge, which optimizes ground transit to and from KSC. After all... it must come down.

The NASA Causeway project gets a lot of media coverage, like this 2022 PileDriver magazine feature. And support teams from GRL Engineers, ASAP Group, ICE, GeoQuip, UES and Pile Dynamics were among the member companies that contributed to the construction. If your company also supported NASA and we left you out, please drop us a note. Congratulations to the astronauts and the modern innovations that PDCA members helped deliver. With that, let's pile on...

From the Association & Chapters

Mark your calendars:

• May 6: Florida Chapter 1/2 Day Lunch & Learn, The Castle Hotel, Orlando. Attendees may obtain up to three hours PDH credit for three sessions that follow lunch. Presenters include Barry Christopher, Paul Bullock and Thomas Hyatt.
• May 13: Northeast Chapter Meet & Greet/New Member Outreach, Sports Illustrated Stadium, Harrison, NJ. Watch MLS action – Red Bull NY hosts Columbus Crew. Members & non-members welcome, tickets are $150 each.
• May 14: South Carolina Chapter Quarterly Dinner, Charleston, 6:30 PM. Network with industry colleagues, enjoy an open bar and buffet dinner, and hear Sean Vandedrinck of Russell Marine present a case study on a local driven pile project, all at Town and Country Inn & Suites on Savannah Hwy.
• May 21: TX Chapter Facility Tour – Mustang CAT, Houston. Save the date!
• June 16: TX Chapter Lunch & Learn. Save the date!
• July 7–9: PDCA Annual Conference & Expo, Orlando, FL: Registration is open; book your room at the Four Seasons Disney World Resort.

From the PDCA Blog:

• DUUUVAL! is a hype chant that fans of Jacksonville Jaguars football often yell. The Florida Chapter hosted its latest Networking Night in Duval County, aka Jacksonville, on March 31. See who was SPOTTED.
• Location, location, location – Exhibitor registration for IFCEE 2027 is open and filling up fast. If you are bringing an indoor or outdoor booth, secure your spot now. The 2027 IFCEE moves to the Gaylord Texan resort in Grapevine, TX.
• "Shotguns a-singin'" – The Pacific Coast Chapter Scholarship Shoot happens each April when members raise funds for students pursuing pile driving careers. See coverage of the clay shooting at Birds Landing, CA.
• "The ideal engineer is a composite" – The Engineers Driven Pile Institute (EDPI) supplements young engineers' understanding of pile driving in a two-day class. Industry veterans Brent Robinson, Robert Thompson, and Mike Juneau presented at the April 21–22 program in Houston.
• The 713 is also where the Texas Chapter met for a networking reception, featuring complimentary food, drink and industry engagement with fellow Texans and EDPI attendees from around the country.
• A battle royale is underway as the PDCA Project of the Year judges consider the 2026 contestants; August's PileDriver magazine will reveal the winners. First, we celebrate the 2025 awardees at the PDCA Annual Conference this July.

Congratulations, Foundation Equipment Services, Inc., you are this month’s WINNER! Send an email to marian@piledrivers.org before the end of May to claim your prize!

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Recognitions:

• Massman Construction sponsored the ASCE LSU Steel Bridge team and Standard Concrete Products sponsored the Concrete Canoe team, both of which finished in the respective top tiers at the Gulf Coast Regional Symposium.
• Texas Pile crew and equipment appear on CBS Austin, preparing to install Nucor sheets with a Junttan HHK9S for the Walnut Creek WWTP expansion.
• VEIT is named a Safety Driven Contractor of Excellence by the Minnesota Laborers–Employers Cooperation & Education Trust.
• Aggregate Technologies won first place for safety excellence from AGC; also, it won the ABC National Excellence in Construction Pyramid Award.
• Koppers, Inc. celebrated 20 years listed on the New York Stock Exchange as CEO Leroy Ball and senior leaders rang the March 30th closing bell.
• Premier Geotech and Testing placed second at the Baton Rouge YMCA Corporate Cup. The Geotech Drift team raised money for St. Jude.
• Shannon & Wilson and the University of Washington civil engineering held the Stanley D. Wilson Memorial Lecture in April. Jonathan P. Stewart, PhD, from UCLA, presented on foundation performance at the Millennium Tower.

Governmental relations:

• Sargent business development director Glenn Adams, PE, stands with Maine's business community behind Gov. Mills' veto of a moratorium on data center development. Leading up to her veto, he spoke to CNBC from a job site where he said Maine would miss out on technology investment if she signed it.
• Vecellio & Grogan joined Mayor Deegan and members of the city council for the ribbon-cutting on the new Stockton Street Bridge in Jacksonville, FL.

Giving back:

• Baker GCI recognizes the LSU Construction Students Association as the "future of the industry." The builder hosted them for a networking event cleverly named "Queseaux and Construction" at a Baton Rouge restaurant.
• Bowen co-sponsored AGC Purdue Chapter students at the AGC national convention in Orlando, where they learned about issues facing builders today.
• Mason Construction hosted 40 students from Lamar University's construction school at its Beaumont, TX, office. The future builders heard a presentation on company pile driving operations and took a facility tour.
• MEB turned the courtyard at a Chesapeake, VA, elementary into an outdoor learning environment. Also, at a nearby Virginia Beach grade school, the contractor partnered in the donation of two new soccer goals.
• Bull Moose Tube reps discussed steel industry engineering careers with 200 Atlanta teens at the Forge Your Future workforce development program.
• ESC Steel and sister companies are prominent supporters of Charlotte-area rugby, from beginners to pros, including Carolina's MLR team, Anthem Rugby.
• Haley & Aldrich opened registration for its June 15 charity golf event benefitting Boston Children's Hospital. The new location is Plymouth Country Club.

Acquisitions & expansions:

• ARG Industrial is optimizing its facilities in Pasco, WA, which includes greater warehouse capacity, better access and rigging fabrication capabilities.
• Canal Barge prepares for its first Inland Marine Expo since Redwood Holdings acquired it last fall, by extolling marine professionals Blake Heflin and Sidney Blakemore, who earned the industry's 40 Under 40 Award.

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Transitions:

• Scott Nichols rises from EVP to president at Keller North America; elsewhere, Curtis Cook is promoted to president of the U.S. Foundations unit.
• Ernesto Nava, EIT, is a new field engineer at Manson Construction Co.
• Maria Modesto is a new project manager at Piling Pros in South Florida.
• Mike Mahn retires as senior project manager/estimator from VEIT.
• Quinn Rhamy joins Weeks Marine in June after graduating from Iowa State.
• Dwaine Hooten onboards as sales specialist at CPS Houston.
• Arnaud Meyer is appointed VP, Sales & Operations-France, at Junttan.
• Kristina Benson is a new Dallas account manager for Locke Solutions.
• Skip Notte rises to SVP and Southeast Ops Unit manager at Dewberry, while Ken Davis is promoted to VP and manager of alternative project delivery.
• Brian Welch retires after nearly 30 years at ESP Associates in South Carolina.
• Jonathan Sherwood, PE, was a 2017 intern at Eustis Engineering; he returned to the New Orleans-based firm last month as a project manager.
• William Deveau named eastern U.S. sales engineer at GEOKON; elsewhere, Ignacio Iglesias onboards as a new sales engineer with the company.
• Ayman Baki, PE, rises to president/CEO at Tectonic Engineering. Founder Donald Benvie, PE, PG becomes executive chairman at the 40 year old firm.
• Joshua Kyte, considered the staff Excel wizard, rises to deep foundations department manager at Tolunay-Wong Engineers, Inc. in Beaumont, TX.
• Louise Peterson, a longtime salesperson for this publication and PileDriver magazine, has retired. Past PDCA president and Communications Committee chair Jason Moore refers to the Lester Communications pro as the sales ninja.

Recognitions:

• Johntrell Weber, a carpenter helper at Cajun Industries, won a national ABC structural welding competition. Intern Jose Pinero is on the LSU construction mgmt. team that won its competition and Student Chapter of the Year.
• Katrina Pon from the McCarthy business offices flies the company flag at Mt. Everest Base Camp, a trek she did in seven days (half the Google estimate).
• Julie Nader from The Great Lakes Construction Company coaches the Cleveland Rockin' Wildcats special hockey team. Watch this TV news segment that highlights her selfless commitment (12 years in) to the inspiring athletes.
• Keith Coleman and Matt Nelson from CMI Limited gave a program on sheet piling and its technical processes to Georgia Tech engineering students.
• Tim Siegel, CEO at Dan Brown and Associates (UES), will present at the May 14 George F. Sowers Symposium at Georgia Tech, a Geo-Institute program.
• Leo Titus Jr., PE, F.GBA, is the ENR MidAtlantic Legacy Award Winner. The ECS Limited COO is profiled, addressing his field support of 9/11 first responders and personal challenges he faced during his career.
• Michael Derr, PE, a VP at Geo-Technology Associates, Inc., has been named Lehigh Valley Engineer of the Year in Pennsylvania.
• Lisa Muzekari, PE, VP Infrastructure at Thomas & Hutton, is profiled in the University of South Carolina engineering alumni magazine. Also, project manager Stephan Jean from the firm has earned his PE license in Georgia.

In sympathy:

• J. Rosario Ramierez (1957–2026) was considered part of the foundation at Orion, where he worked for nearly 20 years in various capacities. He leaves behind a large family, including a loving wife of 49 years.

APC Construction crews installed steel pipe pilies from JD Fields & Co. with an APE diesel hammer and vibro for a new marine offloading facility in Jefferson Parish, LA. It enables Cornerstone Chemical to move large loads across the Mississippi River.

Beaty Construction drove piles for bents at the new Henry Street Bridge in west Indianapolis. (Fans of Illinois basketball drove by it on the way to the Final Four.) PM Tyler Gluys said crews used their PILECO hammer to install Nucor Skyline pipe piles. Adjacent SOE work required crews to drive sheet piles from Triad Metals.

ICOP, Inc. has a crew in Riviera Beach, FL, driving steel sheet piling for a seawall around the perimeter of a local fire station.

Kokosing crews will drive steel sheets from Nucor Skyline and steel pipes from JD Fields & Co., using a variety of company-owned and rented hammers that include models from ICE, GeoQuip and PILECO, to improve the Alexandria, VA, rail station. The Virginia Railway Express is pursuing safety and accessibility for the aging asset.

Ralph L. Wadsworth Construction, through a JV, is building a major freeway connection south of Salt Lake City. Work involves using company-owned ICE hammers to drive Nucor Skyline foundation and shoring piles for many of the 14 new bridges. Terracon is the Geotech of Record. Check out the Utah DOT launch video.

Dawson Construction Plant shares field images of its CRH10K hammer, a central ram driving 48-inch marine tubes on England's southeastern shore.

Flexicore of Texas manufactured 18-inch square PSC piles that compose the foundation for a new Friendswood City Center Bridge south of Houston.

PND Engineers, Inc. consultants prepare a bulkhead replacement at Waterfront Place Central in Washington's Port of Everett. The new bulkhead will have driven sheets and pipes from Triad Metals, while JD Fields & Co. supplied ground improvement piles.

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Notes from the Field

Not your grandpa's pile driving company...or is it? Many PDCA members observed Bring Your Child to Work Day and posted pics to social media. One especially powerful post came from Andrea Colson at Trevcon in New Jersey. The current safety director reminisced about childhood visits there, to see her dad and grandfather at work.

Best Iowa football export since Jay Hilgenberg – Check out this sweet social post from The Walsh Group, which shows the graciousness of its craftsmen on a Columbus, OH, job, next door to a children's hospital. It immediately reminds us of the Hawkeye Wave football tradition that started in 2017 in Iowa City.

Louisiana sorority girl or environmental engineer? Both of them are likely to embrace "Love the Boot Week." In recognition of April's Earth Day, staff at Bayou State-based Eustis Engineering stepped out of the office to clean up litter. Thanks to the many PDCA members who operate with the fragility of the environment in mind.

Engineering fun? It took 44 staffers standing in a taped-off square at SGH to achieve a visualization of 113 lbs. per square foot. They posted a photo on social media. Some comments suggest criticism of IBC codes; however, we see it as good old-fashioned engineering hijinks. You be the judge...

The 2026 Masters is over and golf weather is here. Fans might like this lost video footage from the Augusta broadcast. Thanks for the share, Aipex Steel Pipe & Piling.

We appreciate you reading this month's compilation; get in touch if you want to learn how your news can get published here. We will see you next on June 1.