Two WEDA Awards Presented at the Norfolk Summit

Two dredging professionals were recognized by the Western Dredging Association (WEDA) on June 28th, at its annual meeting in Norfolk, Virginia.

Marcel Hermans, President and Chair of WEDA, presented the 2018 Annual Lifetime Achievement Award to William G. Gahagan and the 2018 Dredger of the Year Award to David E. Simonelli for their contributions to the dredging community and to the Western Dredging Association.

William G. Gahagan, P.E. was honored with WEDA’s “2018 Lifetime Achievement Award” in recognition of his life’s work in the dredging industry, his dedication towards its advancement and his commitment to sound engineering and experience-based solutions.

As an engineering graduate, he worked at Gahagan Dredging which was founded by his grandfather and was responsible for the dredging of the Apollo Launch Site in Florida, and Newark (NJ), Kennedy (NY), and Logan (Boston) Airports. Gahagan Dredging was known for its innovations in developing equipment and dredging techniques for difficult projects. After a sea change in the industry, Bill became a consultant to Great Lakes Dredge & Dock in 1972.

David E. Simonelli received the “2018 Annual Dredger of the Year Award” in recognition of his extensive and outstanding contributions to the dredging community and to the Western Dredging Association.

Dave, as his friends call him, has relentlessly pushed for dredging innovation and confidence in the 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.

David E. Simonelli has been President of the Dredging Division at Great Lakes Dredge & Dock Corporation since 2010 and is responsible for the Dredging Operations Group, which includes Estimating, Engineering, Operations, Plant and Equipment and Foreign Operations.