The Pile Driving Contractors Association has chosen to hold their annual event in St. Louis. The 18^th annual International Conference and Expo 2014 will be held April 2-4.

The group called the site, the Hyatt Regency St. Louis at The Arch, the “perfect setting.” The luxury hotel has 83,000 square feet of meeting space and several restaurants to accommodate attendees, including a Ruth’s Chris Steak house.

Kevin McLain, MS, PE, RG, will deliver the keynote. McLain serves as geotechnical director for the Missouri Department of Transportation. His address will be Friday, April 4.

Other highlights of the event:

• Seven hours of general session presentations by experts in the pile driving industry.
• An expo and exhibit hall featuring 40 8-foot-by-10-foot booths.
• The annual awards luncheon, scheduled for April 3, which features the “passing of the gavel” to the group’s incoming president.
• Receptions on Wednesday and Thursday.
• A dinner on Friday with entertainment (to be announced).
• A skeet shoot hosted Wednesday by the Market Development Committee and held at the St. Louis Skeet and Trap Club in Pacific, Mo. This event is a fundraiser for the PDCA scholarship fund.
• A tour of America’s Central Port, also held Wednesday, hosted by the Market Development Committee. The tour of the 1,200-acre facility, dubbed “the hub of the nation’s transportation infrastructure,” will be guided by port engineer Bill Stahlman.
• A pre-conference “Pile Driving Professionals Development Course” on Tuesday, April 1. The course is presented by the group’s education committees.

This year’s sponsors include the U.S. Department of Transportation/Federal Highway Administration, the Geo-Institute of ASCE and the Association of Environmental Engineering Geologists.

PDCA has negotiated a discount room rate for attendees of $179 per night. The Hyatt has provided a special website for PDCA booking. Click here to visit that site.

The event also features a companions’ program with museum and garden tours, a visit to the Gateway Arch and a stop to the St. Louis Zoo.

 The Pile Driving Contractors Association is a non-profit dedicated to contractors and suppliers working in the driven piles area of foundation engineering. It works to support the industry through education and improvements in methods and equipment. For more information, visit www.piledrivers.org.