PDCA Driven Pile Academy

In November, the Mississippi Gulf Coast was buzzing as professionals from the pile driving world came together for the PDCA Driven Pile Academy at Port Bienville, running from November 10th to 13th. This uniquely immersive experience involved hands-on education opportunities featuring equipment and techniques for implementing driven pile foundations.

Eustis Engineering was a proud sponsor of the academy and provided instruction at two of the learning stations. At Station O we provided an overview of a static load test setup on an instrumented square, precast concrete pile and representatives of GRL also discussed dynamic testing of the pile. At Station N we demonstrated the operation of a Geoprobe® Rig  in collecting soil samples, performing SPTs and also pushing a CPT to obtain subsurface data to be used in driven pile design and WEAP drivability analyses.

Gulfport Branch Manager and Construction Phase Services Manager, Brian Deschamp, P.E., used his extensive knowledge of pile driving operations and the Gulf Coast area to aid in the site selection and serve on committees leading up to this complex academy. His dedication along with many others in the industry allowed for the success of this event.