A Pile of News: February 2024
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 Feb. 1, 2024
Top of the Pile
BREAKING NEWS: In 2024, PDCA is revolutionizing your member experience. Details coming soon.
 
And the winner is: A special award ceremony and lunch after IFCEE concludes on May 10 will honor 2023 PDCA Project of the Year Awardees. Registration is required, watch for details.  BTW, April 5 is the deadline to enter this year’s contest!
 
Thanks for the social media shout-out! PDCA received an endorsement from Leo Keegan of Professional Service Industries, Inc., after he saw his photo in PileDriver magazine last year. Fortuitously, PSI appears again, this time in a profile in 2024’s first issue. Hot off the presses, READ PileDriver magazine, Issue #1 – 2024.
From the Association & Chapters
Mark your calendars:

News and PHOTOS from the PDCA Blog:
  • The 18th Annual Oyster Roast, courtesy of the PDCA South Carolina Chapter and its generous sponsors, was a big success on a cold January night. See who was SPOTTED.
  • Board sets 2024 priorities – In its annual strategic planning meeting, returning pres. Brian Heck gaveled-in proceedings where PDCA leadership established organizational priorities for the new year ranging from financial, educational and growth. All “signs” pointed to achievable success!
  • Libations With Leadership on Jan. 10 was the first FREE PDCA regional reception in 2024, a networking event for area industry members and PDCA board members. Who was SPOTTED?
  • Attention civil engineering undergrads – Industry staffing firm and PDCA member Heron Wolf has launched a new scholarship opportunity, good for $1,000. Apply by April 15.
Congratulations Rick Sadler, you win!
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!
People on the Move
Transitions:
  • Tyler Henson, Lucas Salzano are new additions in quality control at C.J. Mahan Construction in Grove City, OH.
  • Billy Naylor will implement the national safety program in his new role as SVP, National Safety at McCarthy Building Co. Also, Scott Lawrence moves up to SVP operations – Southern Region.
  • Cameron Toups, a 10-year veteran in the Gulf Coast piling industry, has been elevated to VP operations at Houston-based Russell Marine, LLC.
  • Michelle Aseltine joins business development at Aggregate Technologies, Inc. in Houston. The new lead for hydro-demolition at ATI, she was previously a membership director for ABC.
  • Brian Mondello has been named Florida office manager for GRL Engineers, Inc. The 20-plus year veteran in deep foundation testing is based in Orlando.
  • Phil Thompson, P.E., was appointed office manager at H&H in Hamilton, NJ. Elsewhere, Sean Oroho, P.E., S.E., returns to the firm as a principal associate and West District manager.
  • Chad Bruorton, P.E., Nate Buffum, P.E., Jarod Ford, Julie Robertson, PG, and Joe Young, P.E., have been promoted to VP at S&ME, Inc. Elsewhere, Adrian Jones, MBA, BSCE, PMP, joins the Memphis office as principal, contributing 23 years of experience in municipal construction.
  • James Thomas, P.E., Brian Riley rise to civil group leaders at Thomas & Hutton in Charleston, SC.
  • Rick Kalson, a PDCA committee chair and periodic contributing legal author to PileDriver magazine, was tapped to build a NYC-based construction law practice at Cozen O’Connor.

Recognitions:
  • Dex Falgoust from Cajun Industries’ Deep Foundations team bested his colleagues in an ugly sweater contest. Per the group photo, his coworker Brent Guthrie didn’t bother risking his GQ reputation.
  • Andy Murdock, a field mechanic, was honored by his employer Cianbro for his action during a traffic pileup. His service truck was rammed by a driver whose door became wedged shut. Andy pried open the door and let the driver into his warm truck to wait for the scene to get cleared.
  • Chelsey Rodrigue completed a professional development class and earned a public “congratulations” from her employer, Baton Rouge-based GROUP Contractors.
  • David Price, CEO at Linde-Griffith Construction Co. in New Jersey, celebrated a unique New Year’s Eve to ring in 2024. He and his wife Kristin hosted the marriage celebration for their daughter Sarah Price, who entered marital union with Justin Strickland.
  • Cody Starr won a $100 gift card and public shout-out from his employer Morris-Shea Bridge Co. for helping a stranded motorist change a “tricky” flat tire.
  • Kent Parker, of Parker Marine Contracting in Charleston, SC, found his inner Mark Twain, adopted a penname (Julius Parker) and published an historical novel chronicling the journey of a young woman who discovers generations of ancestral secrets. Pre-order Beneath the Draper Moon.
  • Marvin Dilks (pictured) took a job with Richard E. Pierson Construction in 1980, becoming its first employee. Now in 2024, the new retiree gets a warm farewell from his longtime Pilesgrove, NJ-based employer. 
Marvin Dilks
  • Allie Brady, a PM/estimator in the foundations division at Veit, won election to the board of the Minnesota Builders Exchange where she will serve a three-year term.
  • Dan Hickmott reaches 37 years with Atlas Tube in Harrow, ON. Other notable milestones from the facility are Murray Brimner at 32 years, and Steve Shaw and Jarrod Bonyai at 30 years.
  • John Devine, Dave Johnston, Ben Riches and Al Ellerington are celebrated as inaugural winners of Sales Excellence Awards, an initiative for employees of Equipment Corporation of America.
  • David Lee, PLS, from ESP Associates spoke to NC State students on engineering project surveys.
  • Gwen Sanders, president at Eustis Engineering, supports the engineering department at University of New Orleans, her alma mater. She mentored students on an assigned geotechnical project report. 
  • John DeMuth, P.E., S.E., is a VP at PND Engineers and reaches 35 years, becoming the firm’s second longest tenured employee. The Alaska principal has a robust resume in pile construction design.

Sending sympathies:
News from PDCA Companies
Giving back:

Recognitions:

Acquisitions & expansions:
  • DFI Piling announces market growth through its purchase of Alberta-based Carter’s Piling Ltd.
  • Foundation Constructors, Inc. of Stockton, CA, updated its digital presence with a new website and domain, striving to give visitors a more intuitive and user-friendly experience. Check it out!
  • Kokosing formed Kokosing Solar after acquiring assets from a 22-year-old Ohio solar installation company. Brady Phillips leads the new division from Westerville, OH.
  • Parker Marine Contracting has expanded and reorganized operations. Central offices moved within Charleston, SC, there’s new pile manufacturing in Summerville, and yard in Hollywood.
  • Bull Moose Tube won California DOT certification for steel piling made at its new mill in Texas. It credits Michael Bernitt, Richard Morales, and the team, which completed the Caltrans audit.
  • Haley & Aldrich announces a second location in Montana; geotechnical engineering is among the services provided at the new Helena office, led by principal Dustin Wasley, PE.

Government relations:
  • Gerdau pursues greater knowledge and influence on global issues impacting the steel industry. In January, CEO Gustavo Werneck attended the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, the world’s largest conclave of political and business leaders. It was their first appearance.
  • Nucor hosted prominent policymakers at various mills around the U.S. In Columbia, SC, Congressional Steel Caucus member, U.S. Rep. Fry toured a manufacturing facility. In Arkansas, Gov. Sanders visited one mill, and a legislative committee met with company leaders at another.
  • Schnabel Engineering partnered in the delivery of the Cooper Lake Dam, enhancing water management and its supply resiliency, for the city of Kingston, NY. Stakeholders in the project, including Kingston Mayor Noble, gathered for a winter ribbon cutting ceremony.
  • Tolunay-Wong Engineers provided geotechnical and testing services for the recently completed St. Francis Parkway Extension for the City of Gonzales, LA. Mayor Arceneaux joined representatives of all project partners to formally open the new piece of infrastructure.

Anniversaries:
  • Boh Bros. Construction, a heavy civil contractor in New Orleans since 1909, is in its third generation of family owners. Robert and Stephen Boh begin a 115th year of continuous operation. Notable, PDCA BOD member Harold Baur and Gulf Coast Chapter pres. Tony Sepulvado are employees.
  • PND Engineers, Inc. recalls trademarking a development that “revolutionized pile construction techniques” 40 years ago. Read a short history about the birth of the SPIN FIN.
In the News
Balfour Beatty finished ahead of schedule in an NCDOT replacement of the Harker’s Island Bridge. Construction Equipment Guide updates a PileDriver story about the span built with carbon fiber strand.
 
Clark is featured in a cover story in the winter edition of Building Washington magazine. 
 
CS Marine Constructors is spotted in a State of California Facebook video. The Vallejo-based contractor had equipment visible in an informercial about a BAFF it installed in the Sacramento River.
 
Hoffman Equipment has a demo machine that appeared on News12 New Jersey. Video footage shows it pulling off the roof of Karma in Seaside Heights. Karma was a club made famous on MTV’s Jersey Shore.
 
GTR provides design, testing and instrumentation services for replacing the $1B Walk Bridge in Norwalk, CT. Cianbro is in a JV on the rebuild. The Hour recaps the span’s history.
 
Industry notes:
Jason Moore at Palmetto Pile Driving in Charleston, SC, suggests a refresher on completing OSHA logs. 
 
On the Job
Foundation Constructors Inc. installed 369 total, 16-inch octagonal precast piles produced by an area Kiewit subsidiary, as part of the construction for a new TopGolf coming to Burlingame, CA, by year’s end.


Sealevel Construction completes dock repair at the Morgan City Harbor and Terminal District. Within the scope for the Louisiana contractor was installation of 300 linear feet of sheet pile and 122 concrete piles.

Trevcon won a design-build job from NYC for construction/development at Throgs Neck Bridge. With the design, it will deliver security fencing, fender systems, mooring platforms and more.
 
DuroTerra supplied 114 ductile iron piles for a 1.5-day foundation installation. After load testing, the work was done in three days. The Sioux Falls, SD, project will become Jacobson Plaza at Falls Park.
 
Foundation Equipment Services drives 60-foot, 14-inch PSC in coastal Georgia for Georgia Pacific with a Junttan.
 
Hammer & Steel has a VDH MP 70, its newest piling rig, and a Junttan rig at the Santee Cooper power station in South Carolina. See regional manager Steve Snyder’s photos. Parker Marine Contracting uses the equipment to install 2,500 HP from Nucor Skyline. Meantime, S&ME, Inc. is the geotech on record.
 
OTTO Farbricators, LLC owner George Cerda continues growing the south Texas piling industry supplier. He reports having manufactured 1,500 feet of leads U32”–U26”, during the last six months of 2023.
Notes from the Field
It doesn’t snow in South Florida, but Island Piling and Naples area customers were inconvenienced in January, waiting for a crane to depart Iowa in a blizzard. We learned that it arrived late and weathered.
 
Can you ice fish in there, too? That’s the first thing that comes to mind when envisioning the custom “huts” Clydesdale Steel uses for its welders to stay highly productive during extreme cold.
 
Yoga pants are in aisle 2, next to the HSS – For one shopper, the local Lululemon store appeared to offer more than just yoga pants, when branded structural steel was spotted on the sales floor. A photo shows a steel beam from Atlas Tube in full display. Put the retailer’s visual marketers on the payroll!
 
Imitation is the highest form of flattery – Music fans may know Wu Tang Clan, a NYC-based hip hop group, cofounded by Gary Grice in the 1990s. Some of the band members like Grice, also known as GZA, do solo work, too. His branding on solo albums adopts the Boston-based GZA GeoEnvironmental logo.
 
NASCAR looms large in North Carolina culture – can hockey follow its lead? There’s a NASCAR Hall of Fame, legends’ hometowns and big race events full of corporate branding. Hockey culture is more prevalent up north, but the NHL has adopted a NASCAR staple of uniform sponsorships. New this season, the Carolina Hurricanes are the 11th team to make those available, and are now brought to you by Nucor. 
The Carolina Hurricanes
Don’t skate past the deadline! Several members are already preparing submissions for the 2024 PDCA Project of the Year Awards program. All entries are due to PDCA no later than close of business on April 5. This is one month sooner than previous years. Entries must be provided to PDCA by electronic file share, if you need one, email matt@piledrivers.org.

A Project of the Year Award is the highest honor bestowed upon a PDCA member. For that reason, and because of the significant levels of interest the program has received in recent years, PDCA is excited to hold a special awards ceremony after IFCEE in May to honor last year’s winners. If you are going to IFCEE, and you should, plan to stick around on the closing day (May 10) to help us celebrate the 2023 winners.
PDCA logo
Lester logo
Copyright © 2024 Pile Driving Contractors Association, All rights reserved.
You are receiving this email because you are an industry leader in the piling community and
may be a member of the Pile Driving Contractors Association.