A Pile of News: April 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 April 3, 2023
Top of the Pile
A “Top of the Pile” shout-out to our new and returning members; the following enrolled during Q1 2023:
  • Contractors – Live Flyer Inc.; Crisson Construction Limited; Veit & Company, Inc.
  • Associates – The Loren Group; Dawson Construction Plant, Inc.; MotoCut Ltd.
  • Engineering Affiliates – CMK Engineering, PLLC; H&H; Terracon-Louisiana
  • Affiliated Services – Heron Wolf
  • Student – Juan Camilo Villamizar Saenz at Georgia Institute of Technology
 
Not a member yet? You’ve got a month to join so you qualify to enter one of your impressive 2022 piling projects into the 2023 Project of the Year Awards Program (entries due May 5). Besides, why wouldn’t you join? Caroline Théorêt who leads contracting company PRECO-MSE gave PDCA this unsolicited endorsement on LinkedIn where, in bilingual capacity, she touts 12 different member benefits she and her colleagues enjoy! Remember, your dues are prorated in your first year, so join today and pay membership dues for April-December. (We will invoice you in December for 2024 dues, in-full). JOIN PDCA TODAY.
 
A fellow member needs your help - If you can deliver, you’ll get a $200 gift certificate for steak dinner. Make sure you read to the end of this newsletter to learn more. But that should be easy because, as usual, you called in, sent and/or posted great company news in March giving us plenty of interesting content to populate this ‘Pile.’ PDCA thanks its members for your continued participation!
From the Association & Chapters
Mark your calendars!

News and PHOTOS from the PDCA Blog:
  • PDCA members and friends were SPOTTED throughout the expansive, 2023 CONEXPO grounds in Las Vegas. March Madness and St. Patrick’s Day themes were present at the busy, and record-breaking show.
  • Northeast Chapter members hosted the annual Professional Development Course at the offices of George Harms Construction Company; a team from Mueser Rutledge Consulting Engineers was among the presenters during the successful, day-long event.
  • March brought Women in Construction Week 2023; we posted a photo montage of some of the women who make great contributions to the driven pile industry. Thank you!
  • DFDTA, a seminar and proficiency test offered twice a year with Pile Dynamics, Inc., completed the first 2023 installment in Orlando. Watch for another opportunity in Cleveland this fall.

Industry News:
Congratulations, MKT Manufacturing, Inc, 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
Acquisitions & expansions:

Giving back:

Recognitions:
  • GROUP Contractors earns national awards for the post-hurricane rebuild of a Louisiana middle school and pile installation at a functioning industrial plant.
  • Nucor tops the Fortune Magazine list as World’s Most Admired Company in their industry for the second year in a row.
  • Shannon & Wilson, Inc. recognizes staff technical expertise. Hamid Nouri, Ph.D., PE, AM.ASCE, and Jeremy Butkovich authored the publication that won first prize in an internal contest. It explores the foundation performance in the Millennium Tower in San Francisco. Runners up with separate publications were James Walters and John Cary. 

Governmental relations:
  • American Engineering Testing, Inc. engineer Katie Zadrozny, P.E. participates in state and federal advocacy and attended the ASCE Legislative Fly-In in Washington, DC. That team visited Sens. Klobuchar and Smith and Reps. Omar and Stauber. According to the photos, they even received a wave from the big guy as the presidential motorcade drove by.
  • Terracon VP and senior geotech in Savannah, GA, Guoming Lin, Ph.D., co-authored an article about driven PSC piling that Richard Goettle, Inc. installed with a Junttan rig, and other ground improvement measures that were performed for a major Georgia ports project. Gov. Kemp says the Mason Mega Rail yard helped alleviate national supply chain challenges.
  • UBC Pile Drivers and DiversEastern Atlantic States Regional Council was onsite at the West Virginia State Capitol for Trades Day; Delegate Stroch of the Republican Labor Caucus visited their booth – she even used their VR technology to explore training facilities in Las Vegas.
People on the Move
Transitions:
  • Megan deArrigoitia, Maria Modesto elevate to project managers at South Florida ASAP Group.
  • Kaajal Charitra is the newest project coordinator at CS Marine Constructors, Inc. in California.
  • Warren Baker becomes VP operations at DFI Piling Inc. He will relocate from Canada to Houston where he expects to encounter “great weather, BBQ and football.”
  • Mike Cain joins the team at GeoStructures, Inc.
  • Esteban Orellana-Castanada, EIT moves over to GTR, Inc.
  • Cody Alford rejoins Mason Construction, LLC as safety manager in East Texas.
  • Stephen Borgmann named new BDM Northeast Region for Morris-Shea Bridge Co.
  • Regan Tolley rises to Midwest South-Central sales manager at CZM Foundation Equipment.
  • Keithe J. Merl, P.E. onboards at DuroTerra to serve Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern U.S. clientele in the “rapidly expanding” market for Ductile Iron Piles.
  • Erica Ferens joins JD Fields & Company as new business development manager in Houston.
  • Andrew Harris elevates to general manager at Houston-based Lodge Lumber, Inc. In this new role, he’ll assume duties for HR, fleet and facilities and maintenance.
  • David Toups joins Pipe & Tube Supplies, Inc. as new Senior Vice President of Sales and Marketing. He most recently held the same position at Stupp Corp. and has 30+ years of industry experience. 
  • Dean Barley tapped to lead Tadano America Corp. as new CEO; he joined in 2019 to integrate Demag into the brand. Elsewhere, Hutton Strader transitions to manager of all terrain cranes.
  • Daniel Cimino, P.E. promoted to asst. manager, New Orleans branch of Ardaman & Associates.
  • Brian Looney, P.E. rises to president at Alaska-based CRW Engineering Group, Inc.
  • Sheetal Gordon, Teresa Matozzo onboard at ECS Limited in Texas and New Jersey, respectively.
  • Chad Roe, P.E. named new project manager at Eustis Engineering.
  • Amanda Wall elevates to talent acquisition manager at GZA GeoEnvironmental.
  • Gary Watters, credited for creating viability of PND Engineers – Canada, retires after 26+ years. 
  • Matthew Wadner, Brent Sellers, new techs at Mobile office of Southern Earth Sciences.
  • Carlos Mercado, M.S., P.E. named principal at newly rebranded UES.

Recognitions:
  • Daniel Sprunk announces the birth of his second son on March 14; the Cajun Industries PM, mom and big bro welcome Lewis “Lewie” Taylor Sprunk to their Baton Rouge home.
  • Cody, Gibb and Mike were among the awardees at the Company Wrench product support meeting in West Virginia; attendees celebrated their 2022 achievements.
  • Ryan Moore gets a public honor from employer Contractors Steel Co., see his SPOTLIGHT.
  • Jeff Tallent of ESP Associates volunteered his survey expertise to Cincinnati technical school; he demonstrated GPR to find unidentified graves at a cemetery from 1843.
  • Ivorie L. in EXP business development named “Changemaker” at transportation organization.
  • Melvin Williams, F.SAME, FACEC of Terracon has been named Engineer of the Year by the Charleston Engineers Joint Council.

In sympathy:
  • Joseph F. Watters, longtime owner of Hoffman Equipment in Piscataway, NJ, passed away on March 1. PDCA extends its warmest sympathies to his wife of 64 years, Mary Jane, his son and successor at Hoffman, Tim Watters, and an extensive list of family, friends and colleagues.
  • Dylan Riley, a 29-year-old equipment operator at Morris-Shea Bridge Company, has passed. Please join us in wishing the very best to the young family he leaves behind in Cherokee, AL. 
On the Job
Blue Iron Foundations & Shoring uses a Giken Silent Piler to install a permanent sheet pile wall to separate nearby residents of Davenport, FL, from a roadway expansion.
 
CS Marine Constructors installed concrete and steel piles and other components to build walkways and a deck for Amports in the California Bay Area.
 
Foundation Constructors crew under PM Dylan Honaker and Supt. David Howard completed a tricky installation of permanent sheet pile shoring along a storm-damaged road in Hayward, CA.
 
PRECO-MSE is building one of Quebec’s newest Walmarts; see the photo spread of dozens of piles from Interpipipe Inc., boldly standing at attention to the sunrise on a Canadian winter morning.
 
Trevcon Construction shows progress driving steel piles from JD Fields for NYC’s Ferry Homeport II site. Full project story coming in Issue 3 of PileDriver!
 
GeoQuip/HPSI vibros adorned the oceanfront for spring breakers in Myrtle Beach, SC.
 
Lodge Lumber Co. dispatches hundreds of truckloads from its Houston yard each year; it converted to CNG vehicles in 2014 and shares first-hand perspectives on benefits to fueling with natural gas.
 
Service Steel Warehouse in Houston loads H-piles and shoring products for a truck ride to Dallas where they will be installed for expansion of the Silverline in the DART public rail system.
Media Hits
ENR details a $2.8B contract for a dock replacement at Hawaii’s Pearl Harbor; the U.S. Navy awarded a JV involving Hawaiian Dredging and Orion. The construction is expected to be completed in 2028.
 
Marine Construction Magazine writes about JD Fields’ first delivery under an exclusive distribution agreement of a HZ-M combi wall for the Greenville Yard bulkhead; Weeks Marine will install the steel.

Marine Construction Magazine quotes McCarthy engineer Sarah Johnson about unique steps the firm took to complete a wharf rehab at the Port of Beaumont (TX). Hint, an uncrewed vessel is involved.
 
The Gothamist updates construction progress on the Paulsboro Marine Terminal on the Delaware River in New Jersey, which is expected to go online this year. It’ll support the burgeoning, regional wind power industry. Commerce Construction has the four-year, $160M contract for its new wharf.
 
Jacksonville Daily Record reports Balfour Beatty Construction was given a green light to purchase steel exceeding $25M to expand the Jacksonville, FL, airport. While it’s unclear if driven pile work will be performed for this initiative, let it be noted that PDCA uses this airport frequently to come see you.

Utah Construction & Design Magazine features a spread on the $25M design-build Porter Rockwell Bridge Project by Ralph L. Wadsworth Construction.
 
KNBN-TV, News Center 1 broadcasts a story about a job fair in Rapid City, SD. The reporter references struggles the construction industry faces in filling positions. American Engineering Testing (AET) was at the event; geotech and local office manager Kristen Yates, P.E. gave a media interview.
 
Nicholls State University – College of Business launched a digital campaign prominently featuring PDCA member Sealevel Construction; 12 alums are on staff at the deep foundation construction powerhouse, and they are featured in social media from the NSU. John Ford provides a testimonial.
Notes from the Field
The 2023 baseball season is here – let’s salute famed NCAA baseball coach Paul Mainieri who led the 2009 LSU squad to a College World Series Championship. Fast-forward to now, the Tigers are atop the current rankings, and despite being out of coaching, Mainieri can still inspire. He led a group of young professionals from Baker Gulf Coast Industrial on a tour of LSU’s Alex Box Stadium in Baton Rouge.
 
Alamo rhymes with “Sussudio” – British rocker Phil Collins is fascinated with the Alamo in San Antonio and has collected numerous historical artifacts. Clark Construction, through a JV, built a new visitor’s center near the solemn grounds; it opened last month and is the new home to Collins’ collection.
 
Money can buy me a boat, a truck and a Yeti 110 – did you know that multi-talented engineering firm Dewberry has the Yeti brand as a GC client? Now you do.
 
Las Vegas has been described as a “brilliant cluster of jewels” – referring to nighttime views of the city’s glowing lights. At least one PDCA member found its name in the sparkling display during CONEXPO; Tadano appeared in name and crane likeness on the marquee at the Sahara. Nice work, Patrick Snow!
 
As much of the construction industry was in the Neon CityGerdau North America ventured south to Silicon Hills, or Austin, TX. Reportedly, it was “the only steel company official partner” of South By Southwest (or SXSW), the country’s largest annual event highlighting creativity, trends and innovation.
 
The Midwest is America’s breadbasket – and PDCA members in the region show us why. The staff at Contractors Steel Co. in Indiana and Ohio baked pies for their colleagues on National Pi Day (you know, 3/14). Then in Michigan, Koppers had a chili cook-off; winner Jared Loukus poses with his unique prize!
 
Getting hungry? How about FREE steak? Baltimore engineer D.W. Kozera, Inc. is in the market for a new engineering field technician. Reach out to firm president Shana Opdyke-Carroll with any referrals; if your candidate works out, she’ll give you a $200 gift certificate to Ruth’s Chris.
 
You’ve made it to the end, thanks for reading this round-up of news from the pile driving industry. Remember, you’ve got one more month to enter the 2023 PDCA Project of the Year Awards Program; don’t let this FREE contest pass without your entry. Your incredible project completed in 2022, along with those from the other winners, will be revealed in the August 2023 PileDriver magazine. You must be a member to enter, so you need to act quickly and JOIN PDCA TODAY.

Meantime, keep your news coming; it is a benefit of your membership to have your company news broadcast here at NO COST. Also, there are a lot of PDCA and chapter opportunities coming this spring that we’ll be covering – we hope to see you at one or more of them.
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