Better Data, Better Decisions: Meet RESPEC’s Rock Testing Team

When you have a question about rock behavior, the answer rarely comes from one test or one discipline. It comes from people who know what to look for.

RESPEC’s rock mechanics work connects the people who prepare and test samples with the engineers who interpret the results. Together, their expertise supports projects ranging from mines and storage caverns to tunnels, dams, and other structures built in or on rock.

Meet four of the engineers who help clients understand what the data mean for their projects.

Cody Vining – Salt Geomechanics

If a project involves salt, subsidence, ground control, or underground storage, Cody Vining often helps answer the questions underlying it.

Cody has more than 16 years of experience in salt and rock mechanics and has worked on salt and potash mining operations and salt cavern projects worldwide. His work combines field observations, instrumentation, laboratory testing, and numerical modeling to understand how underground conditions may change over time and their impacts on the project.

Jason Fritch – Open-Pit Geotechnical

In an open pit, changing ground conditions can quickly become an operational concern.

Jason Fritch has more than 15 years of mining industry experience in slope stability, geotechnical investigations, geologic mapping, monitoring systems, and risk mitigation. He helps clients understand their geotechnical data, where instability risks may be developing, and what to consider next.

Brent Slaker – Underground Geotechnical

For underground projects, questions about rock behavior and ground support can have an immediate effect on how mining moves forward.

Brent Slaker specializes in rock mechanics, ground control, and underground hard-rock environments. His background spans mining research, applied engineering, project management, and technical leadership, giving him experience connecting research and analysis with the realities of working underground.

Brett Belzer – Underground Structures

When geotechnical conditions and structural design overlap, Brett Belzer brings experience in both.

Brett supports mining and energy projects involving tunnels, dams, foundations, underground and surface facilities, and other complex infrastructure. His multidisciplinary background helps teams consider both what is happening in the ground and how the structure needs to perform.

The Testing Behind the Team

RESPEC’s in-house testing work is supported by Stuart Buchholz, Jakub Hladysz, Evan Keffeler, Koby Dobler, Chad Kruse, and Eli Olson. Across the laboratory and the field, they prepare and test samples, maintain equipment, install instrumentation, and collect the information that engineers need to evaluate rock behavior.

Keeping that work closely connected to the engineering team allows testing programs to respond to any project questions. Results can be considered alongside field observations and modeling, with additional testing when something requires a closer look.

That connection helps move the work from collecting data to understanding what they mean for design, operations, and risk.

Have a Project That Needs Answers?

Click here to learn more about RESPEC’s rock and materials testing capabilities.