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A Pile of News: June 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 June 1, 2023

Top of the Pile June 1 marks the start of the 2023 Atlantic hurricane season. Most of you know, and many of you have experienced, the personal and professional interruption – and in some cases devastation – that the unpredictable storms bring. PDCA members are still performing work to rebuild from last year’s violent storms, and even other storms dating back a decade or more. Freshen up on hurricane season preparedness with this Pensacola News Journal story, complete with photos from 2022 hurricanes, also predictions, tips, and even the list of names for the 2023 season. PileDriver magazine, Issue 6 2022, provided member stories about mitigating natural disasters Violent weather is one of many safety considerations for pile drivers. Some others include threats from inadequate PPE and summer heat. PDCA members are always focused on safety: Boh Bros. Construction upgrades to Type 2 safety helmets, which provide the team maximum protection, along with chin straps. Bowen Engineering Corp. shares a video of their safety team demonstrating the importance of your hard hat using 12 inches of rebar and a watermelon. Commerce Construction Corp. staff attended a Mid Atlantic Construction Safety Council meeting and heard OSHA present the “Heat National Enforcement Plan.” Summer starts this month (June 21), be prepared and read OSHA instructions on heat. Father’s Day is also a highlight in June – here’s looking at you, PDCA father figures (June 18). Make sure to read the Notes from the Field section below to see our salute to the dads!

From the Association & Chapters

Mark your calendars! June 1 (tonight): Gulf Coast Chapter Meeting, L’Auberge Casino, Baton Rouge, 5:30–8 PM CDT; APE, Inc., Scott Equipment sponsor the FREE member event. There’s a fishing gear giveaway! June 7–9: DFI SuperPile ’23 – PDCA is a cooperating organization for this industry event in Atlanta. June 8: Value Driven Webinar Series, 2 PM EDT – Don’t miss perspectives from Rick Kalson, who presents Legal Developments That Will Make You More Profitable. FREE to PDCA members. July 1: Pacific Coast Chapter DEADLINE for students to submit scholarship applications. Sept. 12–13: DICEP 2023 – Houston Marriott West Loop by the Galleria; on 9/12, the PDCA Texas Chapter will host a golf tournament open to the industry and DICEP attendees. Details coming soon. Oct. 11–13: DFDTA, in partnership with Pile Dynamics, Inc. (PDI), at PDI Cleveland offices. Nov. 15–16: Engineers Driven Pile Institute (EDPI), Hilton Baltimore Airport – SAVE THE DATE! News and photos from the PDCA Blog: Northeast Chapter hosted May Meet & Greet, New Member Outreach at NJ TopGolf. PHOTOS SC Chapter learned about below-grade parking garages in Charleston. Who was SPOTTED? One chapter reached a significant anniversary, read up on your PDCA history. Mid-America Meet & Greet drew crowd in Chicago, brought attendees from at least eight states. Pacific Coast Chapter raised funds for annual scholarship at popular clay shoot event. PHOTOS

Congratulations, Rick Sadler, 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: Dissen & Juhn opened in 1973 when founders Martin Juhn and Gil Dissen preserved a local marine construction business from their former employer, which relocated. Originally based in Rochester, NY, the company eventually expanded into Maryland in 1978. Headquarters moved to Stevensville, MD, in 2005 after current owners Gil W. and Mark Dissen took the helm. Watch PileDriver magazine for an upcoming story on Dissen & Juhn’s 50 years in pile driving. Flexicore of Texas celebrates 70 years producing PSC piles and more in Houston. The manufacturer lists a famous Texas landmark on its resume – The Eighth Wonder of the World, AKA the Astrodome, used their treads and risers during its 1962 construction. Today, the company supplies TX-DOT bridges and petrochemical projects, among others. The team marked their anniversary with an April Customer Appreciation Crawfish Boil. S&ME, Inc. embraces 50 years in business, AND the mighty ampersand! Engineers with names that are a series of letters, take note – you might consider adding the quirky punctuation to your incorporation documents after watching a delightful video of S&ME staff explaining their unique name. We don’t see you, technical principal/senior project manager and PDCA board member Greg Canivan! Acquisitions & Expansions: Clark Construction moves into its new Richmond, VA, office in Scott’s Addition Historic District; Brandon Shaw leads the team of 30. Also, Clark unveiled a new and improved website. PRECO-MSE seeks a helicopter pilot in Quebec to operate a new helicopter planter it recently added to its fleet to assist in efficient pile installation on remote jobsites. Atlas Tube parent company Zekelman Industries addresses the U.S. affordable housing shortage with launch of Z Modular, a manufacturing operation of steel-framed, multifamily homes. Liebherr Group finished construction on its new logistics center in Austria. Ample office space, warehousing and sustainability features set this facility apart. Meever USA opened a new yard on the Gulf Coast, giving customers major highway and waterway access. Mike Angrisano manages the new Belle Chasse, LA facility. American Engineering Testing has a new office in Bemidji, MN; Jake Voigt, P.E. leads the team serving the state’s northernmost region. GZA GeoEnvironmental, Inc. strengthens its footprint in the Southwest through the addition of Santa Fe, NM, firm Glorieta Geoscience, Inc. Southern Earth Sciences, Inc. freshens things up, launches new website. Giving back: APC Construction donated to the Greater Alabama Boy Scouts of America by sponsoring the American Values Luncheon in Birmingham. Auburn hoops coach Bruce Pearl keynoted the event. Scott Bridge Co. built a bridge for Eagle Ranch, a Georgia campus providing underserved children with housing, education and counselling. It was dedicated in the Scott family’s name. Baker GCI served crawfish pies, catfish hushpuppies, alligator bites and more munchies at a charitable golf outing in scenic Fairhope, AL, benefitting The Hargrove Foundation. Balfour Beatty US extended goodwill to children battling critical illnesses in Orlando; it sent a delegation of volunteers to Give Kids the World Village to deliver farm-style fun. D.A. Collins sent a team and a fleet to Touch a Truck in Saratoga, NY; The Children’s Museum of Saratoga hosts the event and attracted plenty of kids who were excited to explore the big trucks. Mason Construction and a host of generous volunteers built and recently opened the new Indian Springs Disabled Veterans and Children's Fishing Pier near Beaumont, TX. JD Fields & Co. gifts American Heart Association $100K in memory of a late friend and colleague. Koppers dispatched a team of gardening enthusiasts to beautify a historic Pittsburgh park. Recognitions: Thatcher Foundations wins Specialty Contractor of the Year, two other awards at a Northwest Indiana banquet. Safety director Dave Cooper was named Site Safety Leader of the Year. Veit reels in a pair of safety awards from rival states in the upper Midwest (which both boast great fishing). Congrats to the 95-year-old contractor for always putting safety first. Aggregate Technologies, Inc. took first place at a Texas construction industry spring shoot. Nucor partners with NuScale Power; CEO Leon Topalian says the goal is achieving a zero-carbon energy future in America through production of the world’s cleanest steel. Samuel Roll Form Group parent tops the list for Employee Recognition and Virtual Onboarding, two impressive honors for a shop with more than 5,800 staff throughout North America. Geo-Technology Associates, Inc. (GTA) performed geotechnical engineering, other services for a new Prince George’s County, MD, multi-use development named Community of the Year. Terracon wins member engagement award from Geoprofessional Business Association (GBA). Governmental relations: J. Fletcher Creamer & Son, Inc. participated in the Linden, NJ, job fair hosted by U.S. Rep Kean. Mason Construction attended the Annual Texas National Maritime Celebration where U.S. Rep. Weber was named Maritime Person the Year. A Coast Guard safety official keynoted the event. Richard E. Pierson Construction hosted U.S. Sen. Casey, State Rep. McNeill of Pennsylvania at the Cementon Bridge replacement jobsite. The lawmakers secured $22.5K of its federal funding. Trinity Products sent chairman Robert Griggs and VP A.J. Griggs to Capitol Hill, where they met U.S. Sen. Hawley and U.S. Rep Luetkemeyer about investment in clean steel production. EXP renovated its North American HQ in Brampton, ON, and cut the ribbon in May. Ontario Premier Ford and other officials gathered with CEO Ian Dvorak and company brass for a ceremony marking the occasion, part of EXP’s 100+ year history in the city.

People on the Move

Transitions: Miguel Arguelles was promoted to VP in the marine and industrial business unit at McCarthy in Channelview, TX. Joshua Martinez, P.E. joins the office as integrated design director. John “J.P.” Donoghue rejoins Orion Marine Group as area manager in Gulf Coast region. Also, Ryan Hallmark elevates to equipment manager to fill the shoes of retiring Joe Harrington. Caroline Théorêt, GM at her Quebec family business PRECO-MSE, embraces her upbringing where “Tonka Trucks had no gender” – she adds a new title as VP of Roxboro BauVal Group. Chuck Sullivan elevates from project engineer to superintendent at Russell Marine in Houston. Kris Bailey was chosen to oversee sales/consulting in foundation, utility, pile driving industries in eight-state, southeastern U.S. territory for CZM-US Foundation Equipment. Tomas Delatorre retires after 36 years at Lodge Lumber; the team held a ceremony in his honor. Susan Gould joins the Houston-based supplier of pile cushions and more as executive assistant. Brad Ford elevates to EVP for fabricated construction products at Nucor. Garrett Smith at PVE Equipment USA promoted to business unit manager for the Gulf Coast region; James Ball onboards as the region’s key account manager. Ernie Nillen in New Orleans celebrates 41 years at Southern Earth Sciences! Other notable anniversaries in May were Danny Keller (33), Shane George (29) and Larry Jackson (25). Recognitions: Lance White is honored by his employer GROUP Contractors for his voluntary contributions to enhancing safety vigilance in the Louisiana construction marketplace. Ray Morris of Kokosing named 2023 Outstanding Craftsperson by an Indiana safety coalition. Bradley Morlock of Orion Marine is PM of the year in Washington; the crew of Travis Boone, Scott Cromack, Brian Masten, Ryan Gammons, Doug Rosenthal, Joey Salazar lauded for safety. Corey Day of Canal Barge Company and Aimee Williams of a subsidiary named to 40 Under 40. Tim Watters, owner of Hoffman Equipment and Shawn Farrell, partner at Cohen Seglias Pallas Greenhall & Furman PC, serve on panel discussing the risks and opportunities contractors face in New Jersey as the state strives to achieve 100% clean energy by 2050. Phil Thiel of Dewberry seated on U.S. Dept. of Interior National Geospatial Advisory Committee. Ryan Swingley manages geomatics at ESP Associates and visited third graders in Fishers, IN, to talk about land surveying. After his program, the students recorded a video message to surveyors. Carlos Pereira, Jr. created Paracosms of Abstraction, an art exhibit on display in Anchorage, AK. On paper (or LinkedIn), the PND Engineers, Inc. systems engineer is a modern Renaissance man! Devin Santa, P.E. of RACE Coastal Engineering visited students at his former Connecticut high school and gave a program on engineering fast sailboats with the Pythagorean theorem. Nitesh Goli of Smart Structures sister company wins Engineer of the Year in Palm Beach, FL. Jenny Painter, EIT of Thomas & Hutton inspired a new tradition for engineering grads at U.S. colleges. The USC (South Carolina) alum introduced and wore the first honor cord for FE exam passage last year. Since May 2022, engineering academics nationwide have replicated her idea.

On the Job

ASAP Group shares aerial footage of a coffer cell installation for a spillway in the Florida Everglades. Farrell Brothers Marine Construction, Inc. completes a recent North Florida bulkhead repair job, gives recommendations for incorporating a certain type of stainless steel into saltwater projects. Forefront Deep Foundations installs steel sheets on a waterfront job in San Diego; crews use an International Construction Equipment vibro under the Southern California sun. GeoStructures, Inc. updates progress on an eight-story development in New York City; photos depict crews installing DuroTerra ductile iron piles with less than a foot to the neighboring structure. Orion drove 850 LF of vinyl for a special bulkhead; see a birds-eye view of the Texas-shaped product. Palmetto Pile Driving, Inc. works close to home as it begins its scope on capital improvements for the Charleston County, SC, Plum Island Water Treatment Plant, a job valued around $60M. Russell Marine LLC removes 62-year-old piles from the Port of Beaumont. APE, Inc. hammers built San Francisco’s new Treasure Island Ferry Terminal; Bill Ziadie performed wave equation analysis to prescribe the correctly sized hammers for driving the pier and breakwater piles. JD Fields & Co. supplies coated steel sheets for seawall restoration in Daytona Beach, FL; 2022 hurricane activity left significant damage for several resorts and condos. Eustis Engineering performs construction testing and inspection for the new Harrah’s Casino that is progressing in downtown New Orleans. Dewberry is building the Digital Coast platform for the National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration, an initiative that will be a collection of data made available to parties interested in coastal development, natural disasters other oceanic concerns.

Media Hits

Geotechnical Special Publication, Highway 1 Rat Creek Embankment Failure analyzes the 2021 Big Sur, CA, roadway collapse, coauthored by Phil Gregory, Reid Fisher and Justin Lindman of Haley & Aldrich. A Hands-Off Approach to Geotechnical Instrumentation by Isabella Kennedy, Kyle Szewczyk, Brendon Murphy of GZA GeoEnviromental published in Boston civil engineering publication. Houston Business Journal honors JD Fields in inaugural recognition of family-owned business awards. Sustainable Biz Canada writes about Samuel Roll Form Group CEO Colin Osborne’s presentation on the viability of sustainability in business.

Notes from the Field – Here’s to the Dads!

The big day is June 18 – but consider celebrating early by partaking in a traditional dad-pastime of a horseshoe competition. Foundation Constructors’ annual Horseshoe Tournament is on June 10.  Sport shooting with dad is always fun – imagine using this historical Gatling Gun that a Kokosing crew found on a military installation job in Virginia. Unofficially, only eight of these ever existed. Hitting the links? We hope you don’t get late snow like Michigan-based Koppers golfers did in May. Snow or not, you’ll be safe in a bowling alley; some of the dads at D.A. Collins Construction have begun practicing their technique to not get Munsoned if the family takes them bowling. Wanna just show off that dad-bod? You could take it easy and enjoy a beach day like the team at Aggregate Technologies did for their annual company outing. Got Beaver Nuggets? A Texas borne phenomenon, Buc-ee’s is ubiquitous around the Lone Star State, as evidenced by this photo of breaking operators at Orion’s Channelview yard. Dad needs that cooler! Grandfathers are dads, too – David Sauls at GeoEngineers has a very unique out-of-office email reply: Grandparenting Advisory and working at odd times –--–––Monday–Wednesday, I will be grandparenting two boys today with my cell phone ––--––in a drawer. I am working a full schedule at odd times. I am in office on Thursday. Father knows best – Hopefully, there’s been a father figure in your life who gave you a lesson or two about self-accountability and perseverance. Here’s another one, as shared to social media by Heron Wolf. Apparently, HBO sent a mass email to subscribers, but the email was for internal use only. HBO held itself accountable and protected an intern who was involved. Check out this collection of uplifting and supportive responses the intern received because of their employer’s classy handling of the situation. That’s a wrap, thanks for reading the June installment of ‘A Pile of News.’ Coming in July, we will lead this publication with a list of all the new members who have joined PDCA during the second quarter of 2023. If you want to be included on that list, but you are procrastinating on your enrollment, you have one month left to activate. Please contact PDCA for more information about membership options. Otherwise, Happy Father’s Day, Happy Summer (June 21), and stay vigilant about threatening weather.

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