Dissen & Juhn Company, Stevensville, Md., was honored at the 2012 Excellence in Construction Awards ceremony held recently in Annapolis by Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC) Chesapeake Shores Chapter. The marine contractor was recognized for its work on the Town of Perryville Pier and Floating Dock in Cecil County, Md. In all, 15 awards were presented to nine area contractors and allied trade businesses.
The Perryville pier project was selected because of Dissen & Juhn’s unique ability to solve the complex engineering and construction challenges that characterized the two-year project. Specifically, the project entailed the construction of a 515’ x 10’ pedestrian pier, a 60’ x 10’ bridge, an 80’ x 6’ walkway, as well as a 300’ floating pier with 12 transient boat slips.
For Dissen & Juhn Company, the Perryville project was a great opportunity to showcase not only its commitment to providing superior construction, design and craftsmanship, but also its ability to meet deadlines and budget in the face of numerous unforeseen challenges. Chief among the challenges was a 280’ section of the pier that extended through a tidal marsh to the water’s edge. The marsh could barely support the weight of a man much less a 45-ton crane.
“By its nature, marine construction comes with a unique set of challenges. Crews are often required to develop workarounds for changing site conditions both above and below the waterline. Perryville was no different as hard rock, soft marsh, and shallow water continuously challenged our crews and engineering resources,” says Gil Dissen, president of Dissen & Juhn Company. “They even had to deal with the occasional hurricane that flooded the job site,” he adds.
Associated Builders and Contractors (ABC) is a national association with 74 chapters representing 22,000 merit shop construction and construction-related firms with nearly two million employees. ABC Chesapeake Shores represents Anne Arundel County, southern Maryland, and the Eastern Shore. Each year ABC Chesapeake Shores Chapter presents the Excellence in Construction Awards to acknowledge outstanding projects created by its members. Through this effort ABC strives to raise the construction standards throughout the industry by honoring the very best of merit shop construction.
Dissen & Juhn Company has been serving the needs of waterfront property owners for nearly 40 years. The firm’s main office in Stevensville serves the Chesapeake and Delaware Bays, the Potomac River and northern Virginia. Its regional office in Rochester serves Lake Ontario, the St. Lawrence Seaway, western New York, Pennsylvania, and southern New Jersey.
In addition to providing dredging and pile driving services, Dissen & Juhn has extensive experience in the design and construction of timber vehicular and pedestrian bridges and boardwalks, fixed and floating docks, breakwater, bulkheads and stone revetments, boat ramps, and a variety of other marine structures. For more information, call (410) 604-1802 or (888) 578-5779, visit dissen-juhn.com or facebook.com/DissenJuhnCompany.
In photo: Ray McMaster, P.E., M. ASCE, right, Dissen & Juhn Company engineer, accepts the ABC Award for Excellence in Construction from Rob Secoura, left, ABC Chesapeake Shore board chairman, and Chris Garvey, middle, ABC Chesapeake Shore chapter president.