PDCA TRAILBLAZER
Emeca robotic welding
transmission lines to airports, colleges and churches, he is proud to
be part of an industry that keeps evolving with society.
And although Jahnigen has had great success (Sun Pile
Foundations is celebrating its 42nd anniversary this year), he says
he wouldn’t be where he is today if it wasn’t for the many men he
has worked with “who could take a friction rig and operate it with
such skill and finesse. These men worked hard, took care of their
equipment by constantly maintaining and improving their own
skill, and who worked in all of the worst elements without whining
or excuses.”
Without a doubt, Jahnigen considers his father his biggest
influence and credits him with instilling in him a strong work ethic.
The elder Jahnigen – a Marine Corp veteran of WWII – stressed
the importance of taking pride in a job well done.
“If your job was to dig a ditch, then make that ditch the straightest
ditch,” Jahnigen said his father told him. “There was never an excuse for
poor workmanship. I started working and handling tools at the age of
eight. By the time I was 12, I was running an old Lorain Crane dragline.
Working around equipment fascinated me. The water pile driver
my father owned used a drop hammer without a follower cap. We held
the pile head in place by means of wooden clubs.”
As well, he says, all the piles they drove were creosote.
“And, for any person working with creosote piling or timbers,
you have my sincere condolences,” he said. “On more than one
occasion I saw the toughest of men cry like a baby because of the
creosote burn. My father’s solution was to drink good bourbon. At
least once a year I would get severely burned due to working with
creosote. I learned how to keep tools sharp, back cut with a chain
saw to keep the shaving away from you and keep pile heads square.”
PDCA involvement
Jahnigen has seen many changes in the pile driving industry over
the past four decades, and says the main challenge the industry
faces – by far – is its own arrogance and legacy thinking.
“We, as an industry, must acknowledge the facts of noise and
vibration,” he said. “We need to do a better job communicating our
industry strengths to engineers and improve our methods to reduce
noise and vibrations. If we do not do this, our industry will continue
to lose market share.”
Jahnigen joined PDCA 13 years ago and says until PDCA
came into existence, pile driving contractors worked with regional
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