A Pile of News: July 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 July 5, 2023
Topping the Pile this month is a warm welcome to Q2’s new and returning PDCA members. The list includes contractor members Taylor Marine Construction, Inc. (Kemah, TX); D.A. Collins Companies, (Wilton, NY); Beard Construction Group, LLC (Port Allen, LA); C.J. Mahan Construction Company (Grove City, OH); Texas Pile LLC (Austin, TX); Richard E. Pierson Construction Co., Inc. (Woodstown, NJ); and American Shoring, Inc. (Conley, GA). Also joining this spring were associate member Steel Pipe Fabricators of Alabama LLC (Gadsden, AL) and engineering affiliates Schnabel Engineering, LLC (Glen Allen, VA) and RBM Consulting Group, Inc. (Converse, TX).

We couldn’t have said it better! Ask new member Beard Construction why you should JOIN PDCA and you might get an answer similar to this social media endorsement of PDCA they posted after the Gulf Coast Chapter meeting.

An industry icon has passed. Mike Elliott began his career with Mississippi Valley Equipment in 1972, and later bought Pile Equipment, Inc., which was eventually acquired by Equipment Corporation of America in 2015. He served ECA as VP and Jacksonville branch manager until his 2021 retirement; ECA pres./CEO Roy Kern described Mike as a “dear and true friend.” Throughout his career, Mike was a champion for PDCA. The August issue of PileDriver magazine will carry memories from Mike’s vast network of friends. Our deepest condolences to his loving wife Suzie and two children Justin and Lindsey.
From the Association & Chapters
Don’t miss the newest PileDriver magazine; the digital version is here.

Mark your calendars!

News and PHOTOS from the PDCA Blog:
  • PDCA members participate in DFI SuperPile ’23; who was SPOTTED? Notable, GTR, Inc. principal Seth Hamblin, P.E. co-chaired the DFI Driven Pile Committee meeting as his colleagues back home shared photos from their outing at a Yankees game they simultaneously enjoyed. Coincidence?
  • PDCA Gulf Coast Chapter hosts Q2 membership meeting at Baton Rouge Casino, PHOTOS
Congratulations, Tomas Cabera, 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:

Governmental relations:
  • Cajun Industries and GROUP Contractors participated in a Louisiana builders’ organization Legislative Week; those on the D.C. trip met with U.S. Sen. Cassidy and gave U.S. Rep. Scalise an LSU football. Past PDCA president Scott Callaway of Cajun will chair the ABC group next year; he was SPOTTED enthusiastically participating in the trophy presentation to U.S. Rep. Letlow.
  • Nucor CEO Leon Topalian, Bull Moose EVP Andy Annakin were among the U.S. steel industry panelists who sat before a June meeting of the Congressional Steel Caucus; chairman and Rep. Crawford, vice chair and Rep. Mrvan, and 16 other House members questioned the panel.
  • GeoEngineers Inc.’s Dr. Nafi Haque, P.E. attended an engagement between city leadership in Baton Rouge and area civil engineers; he met with Mayor Broome on development issues.
  • Haley & Aldrich congratulates staff engineer Allison Pyrch, G.E., P.E. who earned appointment by Gov. Kotek to the Oregon Seismic Safety Policy Advisory Commission.

Anniversaries:
  • D.A. Collins Companies is the parent organization of seven subsidiaries operating from Wilton, NY, and celebrates 75 years in business this year. It began when Donald Agnew Collins graduated high school and started Collins Construction. He earned his P.E. in 1941, just as the U.S. entered World War II. By 1948, after the war ended, he founded D.A. Collins Construction Co. in Mechanicville, NY. Then a one-truck business, he transformed it into the multi-brand organization specializing in civil construction that it is today.
People on the Move
Transitions:
  • Jennifer Ingalls joins CS Marine Constructors as estimator in Vallejo, CA; past PDCA president Mark Weisz steps down after 22 years, takes a consulting role with an international firm.
  • Michelle Rodriguez is a new HR specialist at Hawaiian Dredging Construction Company; also, Karisma Mokofisi joins the team as office/facility administrator.
  • Cindy Liles named the new South-Central sales rep in Texas for CZM-US Foundation Equipment.
  • Joe Ittner appointed GM of tubular sales at JD Fields & Company.
  • Julia Trombetta, Carson Faulkner are new sales reps at Meever USA in Green Cove Springs, FL.
  • Julie Jewett onboards as sales rep at the Pearland, TX, offices of Pipe & Tube Supplies, Inc.
  • Luke Crump elevates to assistant sales manager at Trinity Products.
  • Marcus Sloniker joins GeoEngineers Inc. in Redmond, WA, as a geostructural practitioner.
  • David Cabrera, Gabriela Funes Gomez join GRL Engineers, Inc. in Florida and Texas, respectively.
  • Todd Trotman onboards at Schnabel Engineering in the Chadds Ford, PA office; elsewhere, Anna Casady, Utshree Sharma join the Seattle and Boise offices, respectively.

Recognitions:
On the Job
APC Construction, LLC evaluated subsurface conditions by performing a 120-foot Cone Penetration Test in support of a pile foundation for an industrial marine offloading facility.

Bowen Engineering Corp. relied on analysis from GRL Engineers, Inc. and determined a Junttan USA PM-16 was the right machine to drive H-pile for a water storage tank installation in Noblesville, IN.

Clark Construction Group announces completion of Phase 1 for the highly anticipated Amazon HQ2 in Arlington, VA. Several PDCA members had a piece of this impressive project; see Amazon’s photos.

Farrell Brothers Marine Construction drives H-piles, sheet piles for a small bridge in Jacksonville, FL; HPSI equipment from GeoQuip, Inc. is used for the installation.

Lynnhaven Marine and Dock used a PILECO, Inc. D8-22 from GeoQuip, Inc. to drive concrete test piles at the Ohio Creek Watershed Project in Norfolk, VA. Federal funding supplemented the $112M project.

Manson Construction Co. achieved a milestone at Seal Beach in Orange County, CA; foreman Jeff Jenson and the crew drove concrete-filled, fiberglass reinforced piles from the VALKYRIE barge.

Orion Marine Group mobilizes on the North Cargo Berth 4 Project at Florida’s Port Canaveral with delivery of an A-Frame 42-inch steel pipe pile from JD Fields & Co.

Poseidon Dredge & Marine replaces a Key Largo, FL, seawall at Ocean Reef Club with Nucor Skyline steel.

Apex Steel Pipe & Piling continues a unique tradition launched years ago in the spirit of classic SNL; check out the 2023 intern class, who are considered “Coneheads” for the rest of the summer.

ECA Boston branch manager Anthony Sciortino snags photos from the field showing a PileMaster 36-3000 driving timber for a waterfront installation in Chatham, MA.

Otto Fabricators, LLC beat their customer’s 5.5-week deadline and produced 100 feet of leads and pin connectors in just three weeks from their open-air shop in beautiful Cut and Shoot, TX.

S&ME, Inc. secured a role to perform quality control and foundation testing for the second-busiest lock in the U.S.; a USACE project, the firm seeks techs to help build the Kentucky Lock on the Tennessee River.

Southern Earth Sciences field techs break Alabama clay with shovels as amusement rides at neighboring The Park at OWA tower over their Foley, AL, job site. But the infiltrometer testing must go on!
Media Hits
Florida Today chronicles a trip Lt. Governor Nuñez made in early June across the new NASA Causeway Bridge connecting mainland Florida to Cape Canaveral, a $126M project featured in a 2022 PileDriver. Orion Marine Group was the prime contractor and GRL Engineers was the engineer of record.

Fox 21, Duluth covered the grand opening of a new Veit office in northern Minnesota; SVP Jesse Rousch goes on camera. The event attracted the masses for a day of fun, food and family entertainment.

Baton Rouge Business Report includes GROUP Contractors president Shane Kirkpatrick in the List of 500 Most Powerful and Influential Business and Community Leaders in the Capitol Region.

Apeiron Construction shows materials from GMS Piling Products in a story about New York job sites.

Petroleum News spotlights EIT Taylor Mortensen of PND Engineers; EIT Obadiah Dawson also pictured.

Riviera MM covers maritime issues in the eastern hemisphere; it published a story about the industry moving toward remote and autonomous operations. An uncrewed Fugro vessel is pictured in the coverage. Thanks, Leslie Bezdek of Lodge Lumber Co. for sharing this story.
Notes from the Field
EVERYBODY doesn’t get a trophy – we told you in February that PDCA past president Kevin Gourgues of Patriot Construction & Industrial harvested a big black bear in 2022. He mounted his trophy and allowed his taxidermist to display it at some trade shows. Kevin says his trophy is now home, greeting visitors in Plaquimine, LA.

Expand your vocabulary – Social media users sometimes invent grammatical rules; in the case of a recent post from Ralph L. Wadsworth Construction, the company created a new noun. After he won a company photo contest, Dan Vanderlinden was said to exude “RLWness” in his great picture of an Idaho field crew.

“Robots will one day replace humans doing the jobs” – A notion your elementary school teacher may have suggested. But, Atlas Tube refutes that archaic claim in the name of safety enhancements enabled by automation. “Technology and innovation…mean safer jobs,” says production foreman Alexis Lopez.

Conspiracy theorists assemble – mystery enveloped a NASA launch facility at Wallops Island, VA, when the public learned about a June space launch, with no firm date, live stream or on-site viewing available. Fun fact, in 2015, Sun Pile Foundations, Inc. used equipment from PVE USA to drive foundation piling at the Wallops facility for the launch pad, fire station, radio tower and lightning mast.

We hope you had a happy and safe holiday, thanks for reading the July ‘A Pile of News.’ If you are a regular reader of this publication, but not a PDCA member, please consider doing your small part to help grow the industry and JOIN PDCA today. With 2023 now half-over, your 2023 dues would be half-price since they are prorated. We will invoice you in December for 2024 dues in full, but why not start today at a reduced rate? To you members, thank you for your support of the driven pile industry; without you, PDCA publications, or any of the programs you count on, do not exist.
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