A Pile of News: July 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 July 1, 2022
It’s a big, top-of-the-Pile welcome to PDCA’s Q2 new and returning members – we are glad you’re here!
  • Contractors: Commerce Construction Corporation, Conti Civil, LLC, Cyr’s Marine, LLC, J. Fletcher Creamer & Son, Inc.
  • Associates: Apex Steel Pipe & Piling, CPS Houston, Inc., Hoffman Equipment, Kahn Steel Co. Inc., Meever USA Inc., Waskey Bridges, Inc.
  • Engineering Affiliates: Lloyd Engineering, Inc., LMW Engineering Group, LLC

Do you read this monthly newsletter, but you are not a PDCA member? Consider JOINING PDCA today!

And speaking of PDCA productions, make sure to check out the latest PileDriver magazine, published by PDCA’s valued, Canadian-based partner, Lester Publications. On that note, Happy Canada Day (7/1)!
From the Association & Chapters
Mark your calendars

Industry News
Congratulations, Foundation Constructors, Inc., you are this month’s winner!
Send an email to marian@piledrivers.org before the end of July to claim your prize!
News from PDCA Companies
Governmental relations:
  • GROUP Contractors was among attendees at a Louisiana construction industry breakfast at which U.S. Rep. Graves delivered the program.
  • Sealevel Construction Inc.’s Kevin Passman was on hand for a south-central Louisiana industry lunch featuring U.S. Sen. Kennedy, who quipped that the BDM was among those in the area ‘doing extraordinary work.’ The two shared a greeting and a handshake.
  • CRW Engineering Group, LLC highlights a recent meeting between associate Erica Jenson, PE, and U.S. Sen. Dan Sullivan (AK) as part of a larger ACEC visit to Capitol Hill.
  • Insight Group personnel attended a presentation from U.S. Rep. Defazio of Oregon; he chairs the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure.
  • S&ME, Inc., professionals leading the civil design for a new, west Tennessee veterans facility attended its groundbreaking; Arlington Mayor Wissman was among local dignitaries to speak.

Acquisitions & Expansions:
  • Liebherr enters the market of battery powered equipment. The LR 1160.1 unplugged is one of the world’s first electric crawler cranes – a full charge is said to bring four4 hours of lifting operation.
  • Meever USA announces new partnership with MCE Aschersleben, a German manufacturer of thick-walled tube and pipes.
  • TRC Companies, Inc., bolsters its engineering, environmental strength in Mid-Atlantic region through acquisition of Draper Aden Associates.

Recognitions:

Giving back:

Anniversary:
  • Pile Dynamics, Inc. (PDI), reaches 50 years providing the global pile driving industry with load testing equipment and other instrumentation critical to the installation of deep foundations. Don’t miss the company’s story as told by two of its three founders, Frank Rausche, PhD, PE, D.GE, and Garland Likins, PE, in their exclusive article published in the latest PileDriver magazine. PDCA thanks PDI for its ongoing commitment to pile driving industry advancement.
People on the Move
Transitions:
  • Marla Storm joins Balfour Beatty US as new, Dallas-based SVP and Chief HR Officer.
  • Mike Quadagno, PE, brings a 30-year project management record to Commerce Construction Corporation. He will lead company growth in northern New Jersey and New York.
  • Rob Marconi elevates to CFO at Indiana-based Innovative Piering LLC.
  • Neal Haughton named new President at Ontario-based Powell Foundations, Inc.
  • Paven Kumar, a mechanic and Anthony Maxwell, a senior engineer, are new to the team at Bauer Equipment America.
  • Creig Benson of Company Wrench promoted to branch manager serving the Carolinas.
  • Eric Shiring of Equipment Corporation of America is promoted to corporate HR manager; Chris Horne elevates to service manager at ECA Canada and Sam Simon joins the team in Philly.
  • Dan Needham, John Hollatz, and Chad Utermark all elevate at Nucor to roles as Executive Vice Presidents among various company divisions.
  • Aaron Leopold, PE, joins at Dan Brown and Associates, based in Denver, he is a civil engineering (BS/MS) graduate of Illinois with eight years’ experience in deep foundations at Shannon & Wilson.
  • Thomas Greenspon, a Navy vet, infotech executive, tapped for seat on Dewberry BOD.
  • Kelly Jo Anderson becomes new business development director at ECS Southeast.
  • Brad Klausing, EIT (Ohio) and Miguel Ramon, EIT (Texas) onboard at GRL Engineers, Inc.
  • Isabella Kennedy transitions from intern to full-time at GZA GeoEnvironmental in Massachusetts.
  • Anant Panwalkar is new Senior Associate, New England Transportation Lead at Haley & Aldrich.
  • Kevin Ragon, formerly E.D. at the Timber Piling Council, is seated as new Assistant Professor at Mississippi State University, Department of Sustainable Bioproducts in StarkVegas, MS 😉.

Recognitions:

In Memoriam:
John T. Christian, PhD, PE, NAE, D.GE, Dist.M.ASCE, is said to have pioneered the use of computer methods in geotechnical engineering. Read more about his remarkable life in a UMASS Lowell release.
On the Job
Blue Iron Foundation & Shoring uses a PVE Equipment vibro to drive 4,600 LF of sheets for a cofferdam at the South San Francisco Shoreline; the USACE project has a max water retention height of 16 feet.

Cape Romain Contractors completed the Battery Park foot bridge in Charleston, SC. Now, the crew and equipment are relocated to build a new pedestrian span over a pond in Port Royal, near Hilton Head.

Clark Construction uses an RTG RG 21 from Equipment Corporation of America to drive Triad steel for a new Washington, DC, residential development. Greg Barta, Gus DelFarno and Doug Sheehan of ECA visit the jobsite to assist with the rig start-up in what will become new housing in Buzzard Point.

Farrell Brothers Marine Construction, Inc., performs waterfront excavation in advance of installing a new vinyl sheet pile bulkhead in Ponte Vedra Beach, FL.

Richard Goettle, Inc., shares an Illinois DOT update of progress on the McClugage Bridge in Peoria, IL, as construction nears completion; Goettle was onsite early to install foundation components.

Engineered Rigging procures first Enerpac JS500 in the U.S.; it’s a jack system that can lift 2,200 tons.

Universal Engineering Sciences secures $5M contract with FDOT to serve northeast Florida projects.
Media Hits
Waterwire, a NY/NJ publication, talks to Project Engineer Jessica Markel of Weeks Marine. Her appearance is in the Women on the Waterfront series. She’s pictured on Ellis Island, home of the Statue of Liberty National Monument. We told you in June that Weeks and Jessica completed major modernization there.

MOVE IT magazine publishes s a cover story featuring the demolition work that Engineered Rigging performed on New Jersey’s Wittpenn Bridge.

West Virginia Public Broadcasting carries a story about a forthcoming solar farm there. It is reported that the initiative of Appalachian Power will partially serve the new steel mill that Nucor is building.

California Business Journal examines community involvement and sustainability initiatives underway at Universal Engineering Sciences. In the article, UES Regional VP of California Rouzbeh Afshar and Western Division President Trent Anderson discuss unique challenges the Western region faces.
Notes from the Field
Not a typical high school reunion -– Former Belleville East H.S. (IL) basketball star Yelana Melton, now a superintendent. at McCarthy, gave a project tour of a new Washington University facility in St. Louis. Among those on the tour was colleague Norm Sanders, a senior writer. He’s formerly a sportswriter in Illinois’ Metro East region who recalls covering Melton’s games. They reunited for a jobsite photo.

Chauncey the Chanticleer spent the ‘21 football season posing with fans nationwide as the Coastal Carolina team turned heads with consistent, remarkable performances on the gridiron. Neither he, nor the giant-killing athletic program appears to be done! Spotted at a CCU vs. Clemson baseball game was Chauncey with Thomas & Hutton administrative assistant Tahiriah Williams who enjoyed a big win.

Gitchie, gitchie, ya-ya, da-da – Eric Kussman of D.W. Kozera, Inc., was doing field work at a Maryland jobsite when he unearthed a Keiller Dundee Marmalade jar, dated 1862. That’s during the Civil War! The firm has since turned the find over to an archeology team for further assessment.

New York City has a lot of nicknames, but The City of Skyscrapers best fits the perspective caught by Patrick O’Driscoll in a jobsite photo he shared to social media. The GZA GeoEnvironmental project manager installed vibration monitors in advance of a demo in West New York, NJ, as the hulking Manhattan skyline stared him down from across the Hudson River.

Cute puppy pictures were among the earliest internet fascinations. Respecting tradition, OMS Pile Driving Equipment included a cute puppy in social media about its commitment to environmental protection. ECO machine production, bio hydraulic oil use, Tier 4 and 5 motors are some examples.

Kid’s corner – not that we believe young people read this publication, but check out this video produced by Samuel, the son of Jeff Lindsey at S&ME, Inc. It shows company project teams (in Lego likeness), performing a variety of engineering services in the field. What a talented young man!

We’re at the halfway point in a very busy 2022, thank you for your participation in PDCA. July begins a fourth consecutive year publishing ‘A Pile of News.’ In each edition of this publication, we strive to trumpet the hard and diverse work our members put forth around the globe. We enjoy learning about your efforts and sharing those with the driven pile industry. We also like to highlight the people in PDCA who bring diverse interests, expertise, capabilities, lifestyles, backgrounds and more, but maintain a collective understanding that ‘A Driven Pile…is a Tested Pile!’ Many of our readers in the U.S. and Canada are celebrating holiday weekends; to our readers in the U.S., we wish you a happy and safe Fourth of July.
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