A Pile of News: May 2023
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, 2023
Top of the Pile
From the Association & Chapters
Mark your calendars!

News and PHOTOS from the PDCA Blog:
Congratulations, Heron Wolf, you are this month’s winner! Send an email to marian@piledrivers.org before the end of the month to claim your prize!
News from PDCA Companies
Anniversaries:
  • Scott Bridge Company, Inc. celebrated its 90th anniversary in April; among the highlights were BBQ dinners, team building events, a crane rodeo and more. The company has deep roots in the southeast starting in Thomasville, GA in 1933. A leadership transition led to the company’s migration to Opeleika, AL in 1957, where it remains today with the founder’s grandsons at the helm.
  • Arthur R. Henry, Inc. turned 75 years old in 2022, and reflects on a unique history in NJ. The Egg Harbor Township family business is led by third generation president, Ralph Henry Jr. The longtime pile driver has installed many foundations in the New Jersey region, particularly during the 1980s casino boom and subsequent 2000s expansions in Atlantic City. Today, they drive pipes, sheets, timber and even composites. Special thanks to PM Grant Achey for this historical submission.
  • Cajun Industries, LLC reaches 50 years. Lane Grigsby founded the company in April 1973 in Baton Rouge, LA. The company has been generous to PDCA for years, providing staff to fill important, voluntary roles on committees and Gulf Coast Chapter leadership teams. Past PDCA president Scott Callaway is a current Cajun SVP. The company has also won multiple PDCA Project of the Year awards.

Giving back:

Recognitions:

Governmental relations:
  • Mohawk Northeast leaders Allan Heinke, David Schill and a who’s who in Connecticut politics announced a $7M US-DOT grant for an industrial marine complex. The contractor starts work in New London this year. US Sen. Blumenthal, US Rep. Courtney and others were on hand.
  • ICE – International Construction Equipment machinery is SPOTTED on a Rhode Island job site of a $60M upgrade at the Port of Davisville. Gov. McKee visited to observe pier rehab work.
  • Nucor hosted U.S. Sen. Britt at the Tuscaloosa steel mill. Alabama’s junior senator toured the facility, met with workers and learned more about the company’s work and culture.
  • ECS Mid-Atlantic, LLC participated in an Investing in America event in Washington, D.C. in April; as VP Harris mingled with attendees, Brian Laymen from the firm stood in a photo with her.
  • Tectonic helped make NYC streets safer by servicing a $231M infrastructure project. Several local government officials, including city council member Bottcher, attended a photo opp.
People on the Move
Transitions:
  • Scot Evans retires as SVP/CFO at Bowen Engineering Co., where he has spent 29 years. He is credited with overseeing financial operations during 17 years of exceptional business growth.
  • Yung Phang elevates to manager of U.S. operations at DFI Piling, as Warren Baker becomes VP operations. Phillip Jordan is promoted to TSD at the company’s TX office.
  • Sarah Crane is the new admin at Dissen & Juhn Company on Maryland’s eastern shore.
  • Jim Blaue at Bull Moose Tube’s Gerald, MO plant reaches a rare 50 years with the company! Elsewhere, Richard Morales, P.E. is the new manager of field application engineering.
  • Rob Schmitt assumes a territory of eastern Ontario, Quebec and the Canadian Maritimes as new regional director at Interpipe Inc. – Canada, replacing retiring Rejean Fleury.
  • Stine Knight joins ESP Associates, Inc. as new director of safety.
  • W. Shawn Sullivan, P.E. is a VP and manages the Raleigh, NC office for Geo-Technology Associates, Inc. (GTA), which relocated to 530 Hinton Pond Road, Suite 104 in Knightdale.
  • Ben White, P.E., a 20-year staff engineer, is the new manager of the Ohio branch of GRL Engineers.
  • Julia Trombetta onboards at Meever USA as Jacksonville, FL-based inside sales associate.
  • Matthew Shuler onboards as a new engineer with RACE Coastal Engineering in Connecticut.
  • Stewart Laney, P.E., DBIA, named president, chief operating officer at S&ME, Inc; director Matt Moler, P.E. elected president of PDCA partner Geoprofessional Business Association.
  • Barry Keller in the Baton Rouge office reaches 31 years with Southern Earth Sciences, Inc. Elsewhere, the firm adds Kody Knott, Zachary Revis, Dwayne Warner.
  • Kimberley Michaels named new COO at PDCA law firm member, Jimerson Birr in Florida.

Recognitions:
On the Job
Black River Solar has been installing piling for a large, public solar farm near Rantoul, IL. Crews mitigated thick farmland mud; they also dodged several deadly April storms that marched through the Midwest.

Mason Construction is expanding Valero’s DGD3 Port Arthur, TX refinery to produce sustainable aviation fuel; this is believed to be one of the first projects in the country stemming from the federal Inflation Reduction Act enacted in November ’21. Flexicore of Texas and DP Concrete Products are supplying PSC piles that will be driven with APE, Inc. hammers to specifications drafted by Tolunay Wong Engineers.

Massman Construction and its JV partners performing the 30 Crossing project in Little Rock, AR finished the initial demo; the interstate widening project is still on target to complete in late 2025.

Orion Marine Group finished pile driving in a limited time at Seattle’s Vigor Shipyard development. The contractor used an APE, Inc. hammer to drive full-length, coated steel piles from JD Fields & Company.

Russell Marine LLC is on the Texas/Louisiana border, driving 46 ea. 18” by 75’ square concrete piles as part of the USCG Cutter Pier Repair Project. Elsewhere, their crew in nearby Port Arthur installs large diameter steel pipe piles for a new Howard Energy logistics dock, completing this month.

SJ Hamill Construction begins a ditching project for the South Carolina State Ports Authority.

Taylor Marine Construction, Inc. shares video footage of a crew driving 48” x 122’ pipe for a combi wall at JBS Packaging in Port Arthur, TX; see the APE, Inc. D46 hammer mounted on a Liebherr LBC.

CPS Houston needed the wide lens to get this pic of a Galveston-bound load of 150’, 82K lb. pipe piles.

Junttan USA shows a rig on the job in the Philly Navy Yard; see the PMx28 drive 80-foot pipe on a batter.

Nucor Skyline pipe piling finds its way by barge to the Puerto Rican jobsite where it will be installed for a port improvement project.

Pile Dynamics, Inc. continues an active schedule training clients, conducting ongoing R&D and delivering tech support; VP Michael Morgano, P.E. joins the education team to help oversee these functions.

Trinity Products convened dozens of foundation contractors for the 14th Annual Pipe School, this year at Ameristar Casino in St. Charles, MO. Among the presenters was Rob Wendt of Sheet Pile, LLC. The three-day event provided attendees 13 hours of continuing ed.

ESP Associates provided site planning, testing, inspections and more for a new East Coast amusement park; Carowinds Aeronautica Landing is on 4.9 acres near Charlotte, features regional aviation history.

Soil Consultants, Inc. provided inspection and testing for teams building the new St. Clare of Assisi Catholic Church in Charleston, SC. Doors opened at this majestic house of worship in April.
Media Hits
Crothersville Times in southern Indiana highlights a ribbon cutting at Scottburg’s new wastewater treatment plant. Greg Turner of Bowen Engineering is pictured with Mayor Amick and other officials.

ABC 30 in the Fresno, CA market reports on flood prep underway in the South Valley before expected snow melt. Footage shows Foundation Constructors crews driving sheets around utility installations.

PlayMakers Talk Show host Steve A. Klein interviews McCarthy southern region pres. Bryan Kuster.

Oswego County Today in upstate New York reports Mohawk Northeast begins a seventh year of partnership with Flack Racing and driver Dan Kapuscinski, the team moves to the 350 supermodified division.

WCBI-TV in northern Mississippi interviews Kevin Morris of the Atlas Tube relief team that took the parent company’s food truck to Amory, MS, to provide meals to people displaced by severe storms.

Savannah Business Journal publishes announcements from Thomas & Hutton on recent promotions; those include new VP’s Trent Thompson, P.E., Jason Chambless, P.E. and Kevin Shoemaker, P.E.
Notes from the Field – Summer’s comin’ edition
Are you planning a family vacay to the Capitol? If so, you can observe a PDCA contractor who is “shaking up” Congress. Clark Construction is in a JV to update 115-year-old Cannon House Office Building, where roughly a third of U.S. House Members have offices. The phased construction plan limits disruptions to capitol business. Creatively seeking new access, DC lobbyists were seen filling out labor applications.
 
If your travel plans take you overseas – consider Japan. If you find yourself in The Land of the Rising Sun, stop in Konan City and see The Museum of Piling Machines; stakeholder Giken says the building’s main structure is made of steel sheet piles.
 
Movies can help you beat the heat. If you remember the flux capacitor from a summer blockbuster of yesteryear, it might explain how a truck from one supplier’s fleet 70+ years ago reappeared in their parking lot this year, complete with original body and an antique version of their logo. An online advertisement revealed the existence of a 1949 Chevy from Hoffman Rigging and Crane. Tim Watters, president of Hoffman Equipment Co., tells his story about this recent historical purchase.
 
Baseball is a longstanding, summer pastime – do you remember The Iron Man and The Knuckleballer? – Baseball legend Cal Ripken, Jr. was among the distinguished guests at a Baltimore fundraiser for the Boy Scouts of America; D.W. Kozera, Inc. welcomed the city’s favorite son as an event sponsor. Further north, Red Sox great Tim Wakefield took in a game at Fenway with a group from the Boston office of GeoEngineers Inc. 
 
And it’s not too early to start talking football – For the second consecutive year, JD Fields & Co. has signed an NIL deal with a standout, SMU Mustang; Roderick Daniels, Jr. is known as a ‘speedster’ wide receiver with a resumé that includes All-American credentials. At press-time, SMU WR and Fields’ NIL signee last season Rashee Rice, was declared for the NFL draft and waiting to learn his football future. If your company has joined the movement of supporting college athletes through NIL deals, please tell us!
 
While we hope you find time for a summer break, PDCA will continue delivering member benefits to you and your colleagues. Watch for announcements about monthly installments of the Value Driven Webinar Series, a virtual learning program that provides FREE PDH’s to representatives of member companies. Several PDCA Committees will meet, why not join in? There will be at least one Chapter meeting, while another Chapter will host an annual Sporting Clays fundraiser. Make sure to visit the PDCA Events Calendar regularly. In June, you will receive Issue #3 of PileDriver magazine and in August, the publication will reveal the 2023 Project of the Year Award winners. And, A Pile of News will continue to hit your inbox on the first working day of each month this summer. Be sure to send us your announcements that you want us to broadcast for you. If you’re still not a member, it’s not too late to JOIN PDCA. Enroll today and don’t miss out on all that is available this summer.
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