Pile Dynamics, Inc. donates $50,000 in celebration of its 50th anniversary
Pile Dynamics, Inc. (PDI), celebrates 50 years of innovation in quality assurance testing systems for deep foundations. In honour of this milestone anniversary, PDI has donated $50,000 to the Goble Rausche Likins (GRL) Scholarship through the Deep Foundations Institute (DFI) Educational Trust.
This scholarship seeks to honour the legacy of PDI founders George G. Goble, Frank Rausche and Garland Likins’ transformational work in the deep foundation sciences and industry over the past half century. It also endows their vision to the next generation of engineers so that it remains ever-dynamic and unceasing.
PDI president, George Piscsalko, presented the fund check to DFI Educational Trust Chair Rudoph Frizzi from LANGAN, at the DFI Annual Conference in National Harbor, Md., on Oct. 6 as part of the conference’s Awards Reception and Banquet recognizing winners of DFI’s most prestigious awards.
The 2022 recipients of the GRL Scholarship include Erick Cruz, a graduate student at Texas A&M University, and Venkata Sakleshpur, a graduate student at Purdue University. Each recipient received a $5,000 scholarship toward their post-graduate studies.
“DFI is honoured to receive this generous donation from PDI as the company celebrates its 50th anniversary,” said Frizzi. “This donation supports our mission to encourage and engage promising young engineers to consider careers in the deep foundations industry.”
Donations to the GRL Scholarship Fund can be made online at www.dfitrust.org.
ECA announces key management changes
Equipment Corporation of America (ECA), a leading distributor of specialty foundation equipment, has announced John Hayes as the new director of business development, and Mike Roberts as the new branch manager at ECA Jacksonville, effective Sept. 1.
Hayes is responsible for maintaining and nurturing key ECA accounts and developing new customers and markets in the Eastern United States and Canada. He will work closely with executives, branch managers, and account managers to develop and grow new business relationships.
Hayes has spent more than six years at ECA Jacksonville in the roles of regional sales manager and branch manager. He has served in the foundation construction industry for more than 21 years, 15 of which were in business development and marketing.
Roberts will manage all aspects of ECA’s Jacksonville branch in Green Cove Springs, Fla., including sales, parts, service and personnel.
A seasoned veteran of the foundation construction industry, Roberts has been with ECA and its Jacksonville predecessor, Pile Equipment Inc., for more than 20 years. He has held multiple positions at ECA, including account manager, sales manager, and most recently, director of Pile Master products and pile driving technologies.
Balfour Beatty achieves industry first as it successfully rolls our Automated Cone Laying Machines
Balfour Beatty has become the first construction company in the U.K. to roll out Automated Cone Laying Machines, a new pioneering technology to reduce the risks associated with cone-laying activities across its highways operations.
While cone laying remains essential to delineate traffic during maintenance works, it also poses one of the biggest risks facing roadworkers, and there has been an industry-wide push to try and combat the number of accidents that happen each year.
The new FALCON ACLM Automated Cone Laying Machines, built on Scania’s low-entry L-series chassis, will reduce incidents by minimizing the time that traffic management operatives spend physically on the road network.
Instead, the vehicle can deploy or collect a cone in under 10 seconds, removing the need for operatives to manually lift up to five tonnes of equipment per shift – creating a safer space to work.
After significant project investment from National Highways’ Innovation Designated Funds program, the FALCON ACLM Automated Cone Laying Machine, developed and supplied by Highway Care and Switzerland-based technology partner SENN Engineering, has received regulatory acceptance and is being distributed across Balfour Beatty’s Connect Plus Services’ consortium, which operates and manages the M25 and its key arterial routes on behalf of National Highways.
Phil Clifton, Balfour Beatty managing director highways, said, “We’re delighted to become the first construction company in the U.K. to successfully roll out these revolutionary new Automated Cone Laying Machines. We hope the machines will radically improve the lives of Highways workers by reducing their direct exposure to a live road environment – demonstrating our commitment to achieving Zero Harm and to sending our people home safe and well every day.”
Nominations open for the CCA National Awards
It’s time to prepare your submissions. Every year, the Canadian Construction Association (CCA) recognizes the best and brightest in the Canadian construction industry with the CCA National Awards program.
With nine award categories acknowledging the innovators, leaders, community pillars, member firms and partner associations that make up our national association, CCA is proud to showcase the incredible work being done by their members across Canada. To learn more about the categories and how to apply, go to www.cca-acc.com/workforce-excellence/cca-national-awards/.
The winners will be celebrated at a special awards ceremony held during CCA’s 2023 Annual Conference in Tucson, Ariz., March 7 to 10, 2023. To register, go to www.cca-acc.com/events/cca-annual-conference/.
Build your workforce with help from new program launched in September
The CCA has partnered with the Canadian Apprenticeship Forum, Aboriginal Apprenticeship Board, BuildForce Canada, SkillPlan and ApprenticeSearch.com and launched the Canadian Apprentice Service initiative in September. The program provides eligible employers with up to $20,000 in financial incentives to hire apprentices from 39 Red Seal trade categories.
With funding provided by the Government of Canada’s Apprenticeship Service, small and medium employers (499 employees or less) can access:
- $5,000 per apprentice for a maximum of two Level 1 apprentices per employer, per year;
- or $10,000 per apprentice for a maximum of two Level 1 apprentices per year if the apprentice self-identifies as being from an underrepresented group (e.g. women, Indigenous Peoples, newcomers, persons with disabilities, visible minorities and LGBTQ2+).
Keller announces Paul Schmall is president of The Moles
Keller announces Paul Schmall, Ph.D., P.E., has been named president of The Moles for the 2022 to 2023 term. Schmall is vice president in Keller’s specialty services business unit, which focuses largely on tunnelling and dam work.
With 35 years in the geotechnical industry, Schmall has extensive experience with complex groundwater control, grouting and ground-freezing solutions for underground construction and forensic investigation and remediation of geotechnical “failures” related to groundwater. He is very active within the tunnelling community.
Schmall has been a member of The Moles since 2002, serving as a member and Chair of the Education Committee from 2009 to 2015. Recently, he served as the first Chairman of the Moles Charitable Fund, that part of The Moles which oversees awarding scholarships to engineering students. This summer, Schmall accepted The Moles Presidency at the spring Members Dinner.
“Congratulations to [Schmall] on his Presidency. It is fantastic to have Keller represented within the leadership of The Moles and for the acknowledgment of [Schmall]’s outstanding efforts,” said fellow Moles member and president of Keller North America Eric Drooff.
The Moles are a national fraternal organization of individuals now or formerly engaged in the construction of tunnel, subway, sewer, foundation, marine, sub-aqueous or other heavy construction projects. Founded in 1936 by a group who worked together between 1914 and 1919 on projects under Newark Bay and on the waterfront of Port Newark, the organization is considered the most prestigious heavy construction organization.