INDUSTRY NEWS
comes to system improvement and
safety implementation. Nastala previously
worked for a Caterpillar dealer so
his experience with heavy equipment
makes him adept at recognizing issues,
gathering data and recommending a
course of action.
Stephen Funaiock has been named
Pittsburgh service manager. He started
out in paving materials and quickly
moved on to service supervisor before
being promoted to shop manager for
Cleveland Brothers. He later worked
at American Contractors Equipment
Company as manager of both the parts
and services departments. Funaiock’s
reputation as an organized, dedicated
and detail-oriented team player will
serve him well in this role.
Rex Christensen joins ECA as
Midwest account manager. He is a
seasoned professional known for
developing and maintaining strong
client relationships. Christensen’s vast
knowledge of equipment, especially in
the mining industry, allows him to offer
unmatched field service and technical
support. Experience with training,
safety and project co-ordination made
him an obvious choice for this
new position.
“While there is no question the
coronavirus pandemic has presented
new challenges in the short term, ECA
has always operated with a long-term
outlook,” said vice president, sales and
marketing Jeff Harmston. “The hiring
of talented employees represents our
view that it’s important to constantly
invest in our ability to serve the industry
regardless of economic conditions.”
Meever USA announces new hires
André J. Coleman, MBA, joins as corporate
controller. Coleman brings
over 25 years of diverse accounting
and administrative experience in the
retail, distribution and manufacturing
industries. He will oversee the rapid
administrative growth Meever USA has
been experiencing in rentals and sales
of steel piling products throughout its
North American operations.
Mike Santellan joins as West Coast
territory sales manager. Santellan has
15 years experience in structural steel
products for marine and land projects
worldwide. He has provided solutions
for the energy, oil and gas sectors
sourcing products and logistics. His
new responsibilities include sales
and rentals of steel sheet pile, steel
pipe and steel H-pile. He is a lifelong
California resident and Meever USA
is excited that he will be working with
his many contractor associates on the
West Coast.
Lee & Sims uses KB
International’s polymer on
South Carolina DOT project
South Carolina Department of
Transportation (SCDOT) has traditionally
required bentonite for slurry
drilling. That changed in 2019, when
Lee & Sims Drillings Services, Inc., successfully
used KB’s simplistic polymer
system to drill shafts at the Harbor
River Bridge project in Beaufort.
“SCDOT told us that we would have
to have a contractor that was willing to
go to bat for us and use our polymer on
a project,” said KB’s technical sales representative
Daniel Little, adding that
Lee & Sims is highly regarded by the
department. “I will forever be appreciative
for Lee and Sims giving us a shot.”
Harbor River Bridge is a swing-span
bridge along U.S. Route 21, connecting
the mainland with Harbor Island,
Hunting Island and Fripp Island.
The new fixed-span bridge will be
3,350-feet-long and 65-feet-tall. Lee
& Sims’s scope involved drilling 19
8-foot-diameter, 115-foot-deep shafts
to support the new span.
Lee & Sims had an audience of about
20 SCDOT employees while drilling the
initial test shaft with KB’s polymer. “It
went well and they had no skin friction
issues,” Little said. “Lee and Sims
drilled it to depth and it had a hard
bottom so they approved it.”
Lee & Sims then commenced work
on 18 production piles, starting from
the west side of the bridge. Of the
shafts, 15 were in the water so most
drilling was done by barge with casings
advanced through very loose upper
materials and seated in Hawthorne
Marl. Soil conditions were mostly soft
clays and sand, but KB did have to
treat organics in the soil to maintain
the proper pH and viscosity as the
drill descended.
The simplicity of KB’s polymer systems
was a huge motivator for Lee &
Sims. Little said, “Lee and Sims used
us in North Carolina in the past and
liked using polymer because of its
ease of use. They don’t have to have all
the desanding and other equipment
required for bentonite usage.”
Bentonite would have required
more equipment, a staging area along
the shoreline and underwater hoses to
get the slurry to and from the desanding
plant. The logistics would have
grown increasingly complicated as
the barge moved across Harbor River.
KB’s polymer tanks were set up on
the barge, allowing Lee & Sims to drill
shafts in place.
KB’s polymer is approved with
SCDOT on a project-by-project basis
because of Lee & Sims’s success on
the Harbor Bridge project. In fact, several
contractors in the southeast have
already made inquiries. The potential
switch from bentonite to polymer will
benefit the public by allowing infrastructure
projects to be done more
quickly and cost-effectively.
F11PHOTO/123RF
KB International’s polymer is approved by SCDOT for bridge projects
74 Q4 2020 www.pilingcanada.ca
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