David E. Simonelli received the “2018 Dredger of the Year Award” on June 28th in Norfolk, VA, in recognition of his extensive and outstanding contributions to the dredging community and to the Western Dredging Association (WEDA). His commitment to safe operations as a right and responsibility owed by each of us to ourselves and one another has been exemplary.
Dave, as his friends call him, has relentlessly pushed for dredging innovation and confidence in our ability to reach next-level performance. His active engagement has eased the suffering of those affected by shoreline disasters, and has positively impacted the personal lives and professional paths of more members of the WEDA community than can be named.
Dave has been President of the Dredging Division at Great Lakes Dredge & Dock Company (GLDD) since 2010 and is responsible for the Dredging Operations Group, which includes Estimating, Engineering, Operations, Plant and Equipment, and Foreign Operations.
After earning a B.S. in Civil and Environmental Engineering from the University of Rhode Island, Dave joined GLDD in 1978 as a Field Engineer. Since then, he has managed many of its large domestic and international projects, including serving as Special Projects Manager and Manager of Technical Operations since 1996. He was subsequently appointed Vice President in 2002. He served as the Chief Site Manager of GLDD since 2007 and Senior Vice President of Operations Support Group since February 2009. Dave was responsible for the Operations Support Group which includes Site Management, the Safety Health & Environmental Department, Field & Production Engineering, and Risk Management.
He is a long-standing member of the WEDA, as well as of the American Society of Civil Engineers, and the Hydrographic Society.
WEDA affirms Dave as an outstanding dredging professional, with “mud in his blood and the Great Lakes Dredge & Dock bull’s eye in his heart”.
Congratulations Dave from all of us at the Dredging Contractors of America and the U.S. dredging industry!
David Simonelli (r) receives the 2018 Dredger of the Year Award from WEDA President Marcel Hermans.
Photo courtesy of Steve Richardson, World Dredging Magazine
