DALE CLYDE BIGGERS passed away peacefully after a short but valiant siege with cancer on October 7, 2021. He was surrounded by his beloved wife of 48 years, Virgene Koehler Biggers, and his daughter, Eva Erickson Biggers. Dale was preceded in death by his parents, Hazel Erickson and Captain Clyde Eugene Biggers; his Biggers uncles Norton Homan, Dale Hampton, Earl Gordon, Clele Henry, and his aunt, Eula (Biggers) Long; and his Erickson uncles and aunts, Walter Russell, Wallace Leroy, Frances, and Lucille (Erickson) Smith. Also, he was preceded in death by his cousins Averil (Biggers) Smith, Don E. Biggers, and Jerry L. Biggers. Dale’s Biggers cousins who lived in Ohio, Texas, and Pennsylvania were very dear to him. A graduate of Newman High School, he held Bachelor’s degrees in mathematics and civil engineering from Tulane University. Dale was also a graduate of the U.S. Coast Guard Officer Candidate School.
A Registered Professional Engineer, he had been a member of the Boh Bros. Construction Co. team for the past 53 years. From August 1968 to June 2001, Dale served as an Office Project Manager/Estimator of the Piling and Marine Department. During those years, his projects included 35-foot timber piles for light poles at Metairie Playground and 240-feet steel pipe piles at the Aquarium.
In July of 2001, Dale became the department manager, serving in this capacity until 2009. One of his more notable projects was the recovery work done in New Orleans after the catastrophic flooding from Hurricane Katrina. On September 1, 2005, Dale led the first seven trucks of sheet piles into a totally black city at 4 a.m. Boh Bros. worked with the Army Corps of Engineers in removing water and stabilizing the levee systems in canals across New Orleans.
A Vice President since 2003, Dale devoted much time to the industry’s associations. He was a member of the American Society of Civil Engineers; the Deep Foundations Institute Driven Pile Committee and chaired the 2017 national convention in New Orleans; the American Concrete Institute 543 Concrete Pile Committee; Chairman of the Pile Driving Contractors of America Technical Committee; Chairman of the GeoCoalition Code Committee; and a member of the Louisiana Code Council.
In 2008, Dale was the only contractor named to serve on the Louisiana Transportation Research Center’s Committee to update the Louisiana Department of Transportation policy on Pile Driving Management. Again, in 2016, he was the only contractor named to serve on the committee to revise the Louisiana Department of Transportation Specification Pile Section. During the school year, he served as a mentor to the Capstone teams at the University of New Orleans.
Recognized for his contributions to the industry, Dale received the 2006 American Society of Civil Engineering Outstanding Civil Engineer Award in New Orleans, the 2008 Pile Driving Contractors of America Outstanding Technical Committee Chairman award as well as its first Lifetime Achievement Award in 2017. Posthumously, Dale is the recipient of the 2021 Deep Foundations Institute Distinguished Service Award that will be given in Las Vegas.
As members of the Citizen Diplomacy Council, Dale and his family were armchair diplomats, entertaining International Visitors from all over the world. He and his family also hosted twelve German youth fourteen times and one French youth; namely, Martin Berger, Ines Beyer, Thomas Ferrand, Tobias Frenzel, Jannik Hartmann, Johanna Lennart, Henny Muechler, Jana Nieschalk, Sven Nothnick, Ines Schicht, Pauline Wallossek, Kiri Westphal, and Silke Westphal. A member of the Deutsches Haus, he always looked forward to assisting with the Oktoberfest. Dale served as a member of the Rayne Memorial Methodist Church Board of Trustees.
A memorial service will be held on Saturday, October 16, 2021, at the Rayne Memorial Methodist Church, 3900 St. Charles Avenue, New Orleans. The visitation will be held from 9:00 a.m. –11 a.m., and the service will follow at 11 a.m. A private interment will be held at a later date.
In lieu of flowers, a donation may be made to the Rayne Memorial Methodist Church or to the Deutsches Haus.
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