MEMBER PROFILE Edward Forte: “An Engineer’s Engineer” pile capacity. It turned out that a very small amount of mica in the soil at the second site changed everything, and they had to drive more piles to reach the capacity needed. Edward Forte, P.E., president of Under- pinning & Foundation Skanska, learned about construction early on. Growing up, he worked summers in the family construction business. The experience taught young Forte something about construction, but more about the challenges of working for one’s own family. Instead Forte went to engineering school at the University of Miami in Florida, and the family building firm flourished without him. Initially, he wanted to be a structural engineer but found the discipline to be “too much of a plug in, crank out.” He had a knack for understanding and interpreting soil borings and soil behavior, a skill that served him well as a geotechnical engineer. He says he likes the unknowns involved, and he likes challenges. He describes his long career variously as “playing in the dirt,” and starting at the ground surface and “working his way down.” Nonetheless, he says “soils can make a fool of you,” citing a job in 2008 where Underpinning & Foundation used TaperTubes™ (invented by Stan Merjan and Jack Dougherty, two founders of DFI). They had successfully completed a high rise in Brooklyn, and a new project directly across the street also required piling. Thinking the second piles would behave exactly the same as the first one, we were the successful bidder, he says. However, the piles were unable to achieve the same AUTHOR Virginia Fairweather DEEP FOUNDATIONS • MAY/JUNE 2016 • 83 Professional Career Forte has worked for an impressive succession of engineering and contracting firms, starting out as a field engineer for Mueser, Rutledge, Wentworth & Johnston in 1973 where he was involved with the Battery Park City project. After only a few months on the job, Woodward Clyde & Associates offered him a 40% raise to join them. He worked on a challenging site in New York, his first exposure to deep foundations work. “Forte is respected and loved — he listens to his people and fosters mutual respect and trust.” A year later, Forte joined Raymond Technical Facilities, a firm that did engineering for a wide array of structures, on and offshore. He worked on projects overseas, including four months in Saudi Arabia where he oversaw the installation of Raymond cylinder piles for a 6.5 mi (10.5 km) long liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) pipe- line trestle in the Persian Gulf. Forte recalls living on a barge, working 12 hours a day, seven days a week installing piling that he had designed back home in New York. The company offered him a contract to stay on the job for a year. He passed on that offer and moved on to Kinsale, Ireland, where he conducted investigative soil and sea bottom surveys for a submarine pipeline project. Next, Forte worked 2.5 years in Lake Charles, La., where he was the senior resident engineer for the marine facility, a liquefied natural gas (LNG) receiving terminal. In a twist of fate, he was recently called on to install piling at the same site now being refurbished to handle the export of LNG. After Louisiana, Forte moved on to Raymond International Builders in Hous- ton, Texas, where he was involved with marketing and business development. Part of that job was to help develop joint ventures in the U.S. and abroad. One was a JV between Raymond International and Bauer Spezialtiefbau in the U.S. to perform specialty foundation services and to expand on Raymond International’s capabilities. Forte became a member of that JV and helped position the firm in the specialty foundation marketplace. Over the years, he also helped create opportunities for other Raymond International JVs. New York Tenure Forte transferred to New York in 1984 and worked for Spencer White & Prentis, also a Raymond International Company. He worked on the design, installation and support of excavation systems. In 1993, Forte joined Bauer of America, the U.S. arm of Bauer Spezialtiefbau as vice president, where he continued to work in marketing, this time to increase Bauer’s recognition in the U.S. He also did design work and helped formulate bidding strategies. Michael Pagano, president of Avar Corp., met Forte when they both worked for Bauer, and they have remained close friends. He says Forte is a “consummate professional” who pays tremendous attention to detail and finds practical approaches to problem solving on deep foundations. Clients trust him, says Pagano: “Forte is low key and steady, never loses his temper and is always looking for better ways to do things.” In 1999, Forte moved on to Underpin- ning & Foundation Skanska as vice president, and in 2009 became president.
