PAST PRESIDENTS
engineer will be less inclined to use driven piles when next offered
the choice of an alternative.
JK: This is a great question, because PDCA works for every pile
driver, whether they’re a member or they’re involved or not. Dale
Biggers and the Technical Committee have made it so much better
for all of us to bid jobs and make it fair. So, truthfully, PDCA doesn’t
best serve its membership, it best serves the industry. PDCA helps
everyone whether they’re a member or not.
BD: PDCA gives industry partners the chance to get together in
more than a networking fashion in order to consider not only the
challenges facing the industry, but issues that affect all humans. I
have made friendships that I will value for the rest of my life. I also
have people I can bounce things off of when things get out of hand
on a job site. They know also that I will help out when asked.
And education. People who don’t take advantage of this are
really missing out on a lot – the annual conference and the Design
and Installation of Cost-Efficient Piles (DICEP) conference are my
two favorite events and so far, I have not missed one.
PDCA gives people the opportunity to take their industry by
the horns.
DC: PDCA works hard to make the deep foundation playing field
as level as possible – by helping rewrite outdated specifications,
interacting with other foundation organizations and by bringing
new innovations to the forefront through the magazine and
conferences.
But if you just sit back and expect PDCA to change the foundation
world, well, that’s a slow process. However, if you get your
people involved in PDCA, you will be amazed at what they will
learn. There is a tremendous amount of experience in all aspects of
pile driving, contracting, engineering, testing and material design,
manufacturing and marketing.
PDCA is also very fraternal; I have made many close friends and
if I ever have a problem, I know where I can find help.
RS: I think through the education process – not only for engineering,
but also on the legal process. It’s very important, because we’ve
had problems where we’ve hit obstructions underground and the
client was saying that we should have known better. But I’d have to
say, “I’m not a genie, I can’t tell you what you’re standing on right
now.” And so, we changed some things in our contracts based on
advice provided through PDCA, and that’s saved us tens of thousands
of dollars, at least.
MJ: The dissemination of good technical information is right up
there at the top. I agree with Buck that events like DICEP have
played an important role in getting the word out about pile driving.
Of course, creating an engaged community of practitioners has
also been great.
LM: The education and networking opportunities from PDCA
are second to none.
PDCA past president Michael Justason passes the
president’s gavel to Eric Alberghini in 2015
30 | ISSUE 4 2020 www.piledrivers.org
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