John Peirce

Before and after receiving his Bachelor and Master of Science Degrees in Geotechnical Engineering from Drexel University in 1973 and 1978, John J. Peirce worked 15 years in heavy/highway construction for The Conduit & Foundation Corporation and 11 years for design/build geotechnical specialty contractor, Schnabel Foundation Company, serving 8 years as Branch Manager of Schnabel’s Philadelphia office.  In 1992, along with his wife, Beth, and daughter, Jennifer Peirce Brandt, PE, John co-founded Peirce Engineering, Inc. of Phoenixville. Pennsylvania to specialize in civil-construction engineering design services to contractors, engineers, and owners for projects predominately throughout the Mid-Atlantics states of DE, MD, NJ, NY, and PA.  As Vice President of Peirce Engineering, his responsibilities include engineering design, proposal preparation, quality control, and personnel training.

During his 44 year career, John has designed/built or designed many hundreds of temporary and permanent earth retaining walls, sheet pile walls, waterfront bulkheads and cofferdams, underpinning systems, ground anchors, micropiles, soil nail walls, static pile loads tests, and bridges.  John is a registered professional engineer in five states and a retired professional land surveyor in PA.  He is a past president of the Delaware Valley Section of the American Society of Highway Engineers (ASHE), a member of the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE), the Delaware Valley Geo-Institute (DVGI), the Pile Driving Contractors Association (PDCA), the Deep Foundations Institute (DFI), and The Moles. John is an Eng-Tips Forums Fellow and member of the Eng-Tips Forums Round Table.  He is co-author of Chapter 7, Earth-Retaining Structures, in Robert T. Ratay’s 2012, 3^rd Edition of Temporary Structures in Construction (McGraw-Hill).  In 2002, John was named the ASCE Philadelphia Section’s Civil Engineer of the Year.  In 2011, John was named a Diplomate of the Academy of Geo-Professionals.