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RRC Anniversaries Through the Years

Our very first celebration in January 2011 was actually closer to our 2nd year anniversary. There was only 1 employee for the 1st anniversary! We had a ribbon cutting with the Edmond Chamber of Commerce to celebrate the opening of our new office. Before then we had fit 3 ladies in 1 home office. Once Jason came on board we needed space.  At the party I attempted to give a speech to tell everyone just how thankful I was for them and all that we had accomplished together.  I cried so much I couldn’t get through it!  That was the one and only time I attempted a public display of gratitude!!

 

(Almost) 2 years for Red Rock Consulting in January, 2011. Todd Simpson (DSO), Michaela Varnier, Tess Jones, Kristi Bumpas, Jason Unruh and Brad Bettes (DSO)

 

All I remember about our 3rd anniversary party is that it was HOT!  It was before we built out the garage for our soils lab, so we had the party out there where the air conditioning vent was always closed!

 

Red Rock Consulting celebrated 3 years in July, 2012, along with DSO.  Jason, Todd, Polly, Kristi, Brad and Robel

 

Tommy got up very early on this July day in 2013 to drive all the way from Colorado for this 4s pic.   You see, for weeks Tommy had been drilling a pipeline project with Todd, who emphatically told the rookie how important these anniversary parties were.  He pushed them hard to get done in time and drove all day to get back in time for the party.  I will never forget how tired he looked and his quick retreat from the party.  Attendance at the parties actually became important after that!  Notice this as the only anniversary absence of Mr. Simpson.  🙂

 

 

Red Rock Consulting and DSO celebrate 4 years in July, 2013! Brad, Cody, Polly, Robel, Kristi, Tommy and Jason

 

Our 5th anniversary brought about the Red Rock Consulting “Most Valuable Client” Awards.  We have had fun since then, just before the party, getting together and thinking of silly “award categories” that remind us of each client or company for the year.

 

5 years for Red Rock in 2014! Robel, Tommy, Todd, Polly, Kristi, Jason and Brad

 

 

Our 6th year must have been our biggest year – we had 10 employees and a summer intern for that party.  We expanded the lab (got it AC and walls) and were in the process of ODOT certification for the very first time.

 

Red Rock Consulting celebrated 6 years in 2015. Junior, Shawn, Chad, Robel, Kristi, Mike, Michelle, Jason, Polly, David, Todd and Tommy

 

2016 was our 7th year anniversary.  We gave out employee awards to Tommy and Chad for powering through and working so hard that year.  It was impressive!  We actually forgot to our 7s pic at the party, so we tried to recreate it when almost everyone was at the shop for safety training.

 

7 years in 2016. Mike, Todd, Brad, Polly, Bennett, Kristi, Robel, Melanie, Jason, Junior and Chad

 

Between the 7 year anniversary and 10 year anniversary we were too busy to party!  We worked on the Willis bridge project through the end of 2106 and then US 69 through Calera began in June of 2017 and is still going in 2019.  Our 2 largest projects back to back!

 

This year, though, we had to stop and say thank you to everyone who had made the first 10 years possible.  So, thank you!!!  Not just Jason, who is in each and every anniversary picture, but each and every one of you – employees past and present, clients, family, friends – we could not have done it without you!  I am actually not even sure how we did do it, but we did.  Every project, every hour worked, contract negotiated, question answered, boring drilled, lab test completed, report finished, phone answered, kid babysat…  ALL OF IT!   THANK YOU!!!

 

 

Red Rock Consulting celebrated 10 years in business in 2019!  Daniel, Todd, Spencer, Tommy, Kristi, Mike, Melanie, Jason, Jeremy, Polly, Chad and Dewayne

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March 2018 Employee of the Month

Spencer Harris

 

Spencer Harris joined the Red Rock Consulting team this month.  He is a native Oklahoman and has a degree in Geology from Oklahoma State University.  Spencer is our very first geologist at Red Rock.  Welcome!!

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New Crew

There are lots of new faces on the Red Rock / DSO crew lately.  We got most of them together for a hot lunch on a cold day.  Daniel, Dylan, Todd, Kristi, Brad, Mike, Bennett and Blake all enjoyed some mexican food and heat.

 

Red Rock and DSO crew

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He’s Here!

Jeremy Basler joined the Red Rock team!

It’s official! Jeremy Basler, PE, made the switch to the Red Rock team this week as our Geotechnical Manager. He comes with many years of geotechnical engineering experience, orange pride and is just a really nice guy. Good luck managing us, Jeremy!!

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E-Week 2017

Another Engineering Week, another opportunity to shape young minds.  This year, Jason helped judge the Toothpick Bridge competition at the Science Museum once again while the whole crew chatted with elementary school students.  Pre-K and Kindergarten students learned about the Earth’s layers, basic geology and the different types of engineering.  They enjoyed learning about the Earth’s layers as they used colored play doh to make their very own globes.  Second graders got a field trip to Red Rock Consulting’s office to learn about soil sampling and testing.  They “cored” into layers of cake, candy, frosting and other sweet treats to get a tasty sample to eat as they learned about geotechnical engineering.  They also explored the lab and performed real soils testing with the lab guys.  It was a great E-week and the thank you letters were priceless!!

 

Pre-K and Kindergarten students learned about the Earth’s layers using play doh.

 

Pre-K and Kindergarten students learned about the different types of engineering.

 

Second grade students enjoyed “coring” into these sweet layers of soil!

 

Second grade students learned about geotechnical engineering while enjoying their “core samples”.

 

Second graders learned about soil testing from the experts.

 

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Summer Wellness

Red Rock Consulting really upped the stakes for the summer wellness program this year!  We enjoyed FREE yoga at the office twice a week all summer for all employees.  Additionally, Polly planned monthly health and wellness seminars, healthy potluck lunches, activities and more!  We started off with June, the month of gratitude, followed by July, the month of kindness, and ended with August, the month of mental health.  We sure are GRATEFUL for the KINDNESS of Miss Polly!

 

RRC’s first day of yoga

 

Look at all these yoyos!

 

Healthy Potluck Lunch

 

All of the summer wellness bulletin posters.

Batter Up!

Jason Unruh and Todd Simpson participated in batting practice at the RedHawks field yesterday. Red Rock employees enjoyed sharing season tickets to the OKC RedHawks games this summer. Looking good guys!

JTU baseball

TiS baseball

November Employee of The Month

Tess Jones

Tess Jones

 

Tess Jones joined Red Rock Consulting as the Operations & Marketing Coordinator in November of 2010.  Tess has over 12 years experience in administrative customer service, office management and marketing.  As Operations & Marketing Coordinator, she oversees and maintains the day to day actions of the office.  She manages the billing system and ensures reports and proposals are executed and filed.  Tess has recently been coordinating the move to the new office, employee benefit packages and parties, including the joint DSO-RRC holiday party and the RRC open house, to take place in December.  She has also been busy updating marketing materials to reflect all the changes at RRC.

When asked about her recent move into the geotechnical engineering community, Tess responded by stating, “Diving into the geotech field has been an awesome learning experience.  RRC has the best clients and consultants!  I’m excited to continue growing with such a great company!”

Welcome, Tess!  Thanks for taking care of us!

October Employee of the Month

    
Michaela's First Day on the Rig

Michaela's First Day on the Rig

Michaela Varnier, EI joined the Red Rock Consulting team as a Project Specialist in October of 2010.  She is a graduate of Oklahoma University with both a Bachelors and a Masters of Science in Civil Engineering.  Her Masters thesis research concentrated on colorimeter testing of sulfate rich soils. 

Since joing RRC, Michaela has been busy learning about drilling rigs and field testing, including dilatometer testing.  In the office, Michaela is learning about different aspects of project management, data analysis and report writing.  Michaela has already established herself as a valuable asset. 
 
Welcome, Michaela!  Keep up the GREAT work!
Michaela Varnier (RRC) in McAlester, OK 

Michaela on a project site in McAlester, OK

Dilatometer Arrives

Attaching Drill Rod to the Dilatometer

Attaching Drill Rod to the Dilatometer

Adam Bench with GP&E out of Gainsville, Florida, delivered the new dilatometer equipment to our project site in Walters, Oklahoma on October 5, 2010.  Adam stuck around to introduce us to the equipment setup, measurement procedures and analysis software.  After a rough start (who knew moisture could get into a nitrogen tank?!), the project went relatively smoothly.  After a hard day at work, Adam was treated to an outing in Lawton, Oklahoma with DSO and RRC. 

  
Brad Bettes (DSO), Todd SImpson (DSO), Kristi Bumpas (RRC) and Adam Bench (GP&E) in Lawton, Oklahoma

Brad Bettes (DSO), Todd SImpson (DSO), Kristi Bumpas (RRC) and Adam Bench (GP&E)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Marchetti flat dilatometer test (DMT) providesa a rational, inexpensive method to determine the engineering parameters for the design of earthworks and structural foundations.  The test is performed insitu by pushing into the soil a blade-shaped probe that has an expandable membrane on one side.  Stopping at depth intervals as close as 6 inches, the operator performs the DMT by expanding this membrane.  From the data the engineer can obtain a stratigraphic profile of commonly used soil engineering properties for analysis.  These include soil type, shear strength, deformation modulus, preconsolidation stress, insitu horizontal stress, insitu porewater pressure and the  rate of consolidation in soils ranging from coarse sands to clays.  (Federal Highway Administration “Guidelines for Using the CPT, CPTU and Marchetti DMT for Geotechnical Design”, FHWA-PA-87-024+84-24 Volume III, US Department of Transportation, Washington, DC, 1988)

 

Dilatometer Gauges

Dilatometer Gauges