Patrick Bermingham, CEO of Bermingham Foundation Solutions, Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, was awarded the Ben C. Gerwick Award for Innovation in Design and Construction of Marine Foundations at a dinner in early December at the DFI Marine Foundation Seminar in Norfolk, Va. The annual award recognizes innovative excellence in the design and construction of marine foundations, and honors Ben C. Gerwick for his achievements during his 62-year career in the field of marine foundations. The award is sponsored by the Deep Foundation Institute Educational Trust, University of California Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, and the Ben C. Gerwick Company.
Bermingham’s recent achievements include the design of a beam launcher for the American firm Flatiron along with the Italian firm Deal, for a bridge over a wide North Carolina river. He also leads the company in the creation of a massive cofferdam in the Niagara River, for a new hydroelectric power station. In 2003, he encouraged the use of geothermal foundations in a federal building in Canada. Bermingham has conducted both research and product development on a wide variety of equipment and foundation systems. Perhaps his most noteworthy innovation is the Statnamic load testing method in conjunction with TNO, the Dutch National Research Council. He has also developed a complete line of fuel-injected high-efficiency pile hammers; direct drive diesel hammers; and reverse circulation rock drilling equipment, as well as an underwater hammer for deep sea applications by the oil industry, which anchors foundations down at 3,000 m (9,842.5 ft) below sea level. Since 1983, he has worked in the foundation industry, developing new technologies. Currently, he is working on pile improvement technologies together with the use of geothermal circuits in foundations.
