WEDA Press Release: 2017 LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AND 2017 DREDGER OF THE YEAR AWARDS

Press Release:

WESTERN DREDGING ASSOCIATION (WEDA) PRESENTS 2017 LIFETIME ACHIEVEMENT AND 2017 DREDGER OF THE YEAR AWARDS AT ITS ANNUAL MEETING IN VANCOUVER, CANADA 

On June 28^th, at its annual meeting in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, the Western Dredging Association (WEDA) presented two awards that recognize individual contributions to the organization. Marcel Hermans, President and Chair of WEDA, presented the 2017 Annual Lifetime Achievement Award to Anthony Binsfeld in recognition of his life’s work in advancing the dredging industry, and the 2017 Dredger of the Year Award to Dr. Donald Hayes for his contributions to the dredging community and to the Western Dredging Association.

Anthony Binsfeld has been a dedicated member of the marine construction and dredging industry, committed to promoting innovative technologies and practices. As a young man, he spent considerable time working around and within J.F. Brennan Company, the family business his grandfather started in 1919. Tony spent his career realizing his dream of growing the company into a multi-faceted, full-service, dredging and marine construction contractor. He led J.F. Brennan Company by building their capacity to perform numerous navigational projects for the United States Army Corps of Engineers and executed major environmental projects for the industry.

Tony Binsfeld fostered J.F. Brennan’s move into hydraulic dredging in the 1990’s, which focused the company on innovative dredging, finding new opportunities in environmental restoration, environmental remediation, and high speed dewatering. His leadership and innovation led to an “out of the box” approach that J.F. Brennan includes in all its projects. 

Tony Binsfeld is highly regarded by his employees for his mentorship and dedication to them and their families and he actively cultivates a culture that encourages employees to seek learning opportunities. His commitment to building a people-first business is apparent in all of his actions. He has forged the company’s culture, The Brennan Way, which is the playbook for how Brennan conducts its work, treats its employees, and serves its clients.  He is most often quoted for his saying, “If we lost all of our equipment, tomorrow we could go to work with the people we have in the organization. However, if we lost all of our people, tomorrow we would go to auction.”

Under Binsfeld’s guidance J.F. Brennan Company became a Platinum Sustaining Member of WEDA; he served as President of WEDA’s Midwest Chapter and as a member of WEDA’s Board of Directors. For all these reasons, Tony Binsfeld was presented with the WEDA’s 2017 Lifetime Achievement Award.

Dr. Donald Hayes, PE, BCEE, received the 2017 Annual Dredger of the Year Award in recognition of his extensive and outstanding contributions to the dredging community and to the Western Dredging Association.

Through his role as Professor and Department Chair of the University of Nevada at Las Vegas (UNLV) Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering and Construction, Dr. Hayes supports the dredging community in developing improved dredging technologies and dredged material management techniques. Of immeasurable value to the dredging industry, Dr. Hayes’s research has focused upon efficiencies of technologies for both navigation and environmental dredging, sustainable management of dredged material including contaminated sediments, and coastal restoration and mitigation.

Dr. Hayes is an active member of the WEDA Board of Directors. He is a member of the Board of Directors’ Technical Papers Committee, the Training and Certification Committee, and the Awards Committee. Dr. Hayes has also been a long-standing contributing member of the WEDA Environmental Commission. He is well known for WEDA short courses and delivering lectures during the day before WEDA conferences. He also supports the dredging community as a lecturer at the annual Dredging Short Course at Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas.

For further information contact on any of these projects: Thomas P. Cappellino, WEDA Executive Director (tcappellino@westerndredging.org) or Craig Vogt (craig@craigvogt.com)

Photos of the Awards Presentation are available upon request.