ABOUT GEOTECHNICS

Geotechnics is a multi-location, independently accredited testing laboratory that is nationally recognized for providing high quality geotechnical and geosynthetic laboratory, and field services throughout the United States. Our staff is extremely experienced and committed to our clients’ needs and schedules while focusing on all aspects of quality.

Geotechnics’ extensive capabilities and experience have contributed to the design and construction of thousands of engineering and construction projects around the world.

Download our Statement of Qualifications

Career Opportunities

GEOTECHNICS LEADERSHIP

Randy O’Rourke

412-952-5366
rorourke@geotechnics.net

Learn more about Randy O’Rourke


J.P. Kline P.E.

412-952-5361
jpkline@geotechnics.net

Learn more about J.P. Kline


Dan Smith P.E.

615-590-7695
dsmith@geotechnics.net

Learn more about Dan Smith


Michael Smith

919-612-4534
msmith@geotechnics.net

Learn more about Michael Smith


Nathan Melaro

412-952-5362
nmelaro@geotechnics.net

Learn more about Nathan Melaro


Ryan O’Rourke

412-627-4654
ryano@geotechnics.net

Learn more about Ryan O’Rourke


Tyler Volpe

412-823-7600
tvolpe@geotechnics.net

Learn more about Tyler Volpe


LISTEN TO THE PODCAST

Three Rivers Leadership Radio Show and Podcast: An Interview with Randy O’Rourke, Founder/President Geotechnics, Inc.

randy and dave in the lab

GEOTECHNICS HISTORY

Randy O’Rourke founded Geotechnics in 1984 when he set up shop in the basement of his home in Edgewood, just outside of Pittsburgh. His wife Judy was accustomed to dirty clothes piled around the washer and dryer. However, when bags of dirt started to appear, it became a whole different story.

Of course, this prompted a discussion in the O’Rourke household and Randy proceeded to tell Judy about the company he envisioned, Geotechnics. And, yes, he outlined the important role her commandeered Tupperware containers would play for Hydrometers and soils mixing. Some forty years later, by the way, those containers are still in use. You rock, Tupperware.

As Geotechnics began to grow, Randy reached out to his long time lab buddy Dave Backstrom and convinced him that together, they would make a great team. He was right. Randy and Dave were together in a 30+ year partnership that was well-tested over time. Though the team, services and leadership have expanded over the years, the foundation of their business endures: integrity in testing.

GEO POSTCARDS

Virtually Real? or Really Virtual?
Brain with text: Knowledge is power.
Einstein holding a laptop with text: Web of intrigue.
Head silhouette with headphones with text: Can you Hear me now?
Dick Tracy on an smartwatch with text: Watch This.
Tom Swift and his electric runabout: driving advancements
Rosie the robot with text: I, Robot.
Star Trek ship with text: Hey Siri?
Ball of Christmas lights with text: Wishing you a great big ball of thoroughly tested holiday cheer.
Old punch card machine with text: 8 days a week?
Bottle in a brown bag with text: Cheers.
Vinyl record with text: Talk about pop music.
Ali Baba with text: Forty thieves? No forty years.
Can of WD-40 with text: Here's to the squeaky wheel.
-40 degrees shown on a thermometer with text: -40.
Big ruby with text: A gem of an anniversary.
Gingerbread cookie with head bitten and text: There's no place like home(made) for the holidays.
Big iceburg with text: Ice, Ice, Baby?
Pile of boulders with text: Rock Music?
Walking in circles?
River in forest with text: A river runs through it -er, under it?
Hands holding glowing lights with text: Goodness Gracious, great balls of...lightning?
Sheep with tongue sticking out with text: Sheepish Mystery?
Bread with galactic jelly with text: Great gobs from the galaxy?
Space gasses with text: WOW!
Earth from outer space with text: Peace.
Baby drooling with text: 25,000.
Football goal on a cliff with text: 900,000,000,000.
Trash can trophy with text: 4.5.
Upside down calculator with text: hello.
seismic wave with text: 2
Dog Yawning with text: 250,000.
Toilet with text: Three.
Night sky with text: One Billion Trillion.
Infographic with text: It All Adds up to One Happy Holiday
Pocket watch with text: Well, that was fast.
Big Mac with text: Two All-Beef Patties, special sauce, lettuce, cheese and a commodities index.
Welcome to Missouri postcard
Jug with text: That's the spirit.
Stack of waffles with text: Short stack with a side of Storm Surge?
Banana with text: Let's make like a banana and split isotopes
Lightning with text: Does it ever strike twice?
Happy dog with text: Ruff Math.
Pile of wood with text: How much measure would a measurer measure measures?
Curvy road sign with text: Road Tested.
Dna strands and swab with text: Look, I am your father.
Grapefruit with text: Can testing determine if you're off base?
Crash test dummy with text: Test as if your life depended on it.
Dog with head bandaged with text: Trust the Protocol.
Milk in refrigerator with text: No matter how big or small, every test counts.
Finger with bandaid and text: Are you positive? Only a test will tell for sure.
Beads of liquid on surface with text: Strength Tested.
Black smoke with text: Heat Tested. Geotechnical Engineering.
Dog wearing sunglasses and text: Solar tested. Geotechnical Engineering.
Nuclear powerplant blueprint with text: Nuclear tested. Geotechnical Engineering
Waves crashing with text: Hydro Tested. Geotechnical Engineering.
Boot walking through mud with text: Field Tested. Geotechnical Engineering.
Tree blowing in the wind with text: Wind tested. Geotechnics.
Layers of road with text: Road Tested. Geotechnics.
Ice cream code with ice cream under the cone with text: Introducing the 'flow cone method.' Geotechnical Engineering.
Beer pong cup with text: Know your limits.
Crumb cake with text: Some tests are best preformed of a cup of coffee. Geotechnical Engineering.
Book: the pocket encyclopedia of ferns with text: Who doesn't love 'small diameter borings?' Geotechnical Engineering.
Orchestra conductor with text: Did someone say conductivity? Geotechnical Engineering.
Wheel of cheese with text: Introducing our newest leader. Geotechnical Engineering.
Popsicles melting with text: Help me, I'm melting. Geotechnical Engineering.
Men's speedo on laundry line with text: Some shrinkage may occur. Geotechnical Engineering.
Cork with text: How deep is your love?
Hand pushing on fabric with text: This is not your fathers shower curtain.
Oreos with text: Twist and separate?
Child sliding backwards down slide with text: Sometimes it helps to get stuck.
Plate of spagetti with text: Pile it on. Really.
Fish in a IV medical bag with text: The project that hung us out to dry.
Baseball stadium with text: Experience makes for winning seasons.
Looking at sky in a nuclear silo with text: Experience powers a trailblazer.
Boat by waterfall with text: Experience is seldom splashy.
Clean outdoor scene with text: Experience turns trash in treasure.
Looking at sky through industrial mill with text: Experience provides good energy.
Water in a dam with text: Experience proved success is borne from failure.
Bridge with text: Experience makes for an excellent bridge partner.
Rubber chicken in soup with text:
Skunk with text: A skunk stinks from the head down.
Pig with text: The difference between involvement and commitment is like ham and eggs. The chicken is involved, the pig is committed.
Lightbulbs with text:
Compass with text: Let your integrity be your guide.
Baseball glove with text:
Work boots with text:
Poison dart frog with text: How deadly is deadly?
Diagram of mountain with text: How par is par?
Cycler riding a bike up a very steep hill with text: How steep is steep?
Hot pepper with text: How hot is hot?
Sports car with text: How fast is fast?
Egyptian hieroglyph with text: How old is old?
Dark package with text: Everyone loves a mystery, right?
Suitcase with rocks inside with text: Some samples come with extra baggage.
Dotted eye with text: Holy liner, Batman!
Elevator buttons with text: Going Up?
Long cigar ash with text: Nice Ash.
Pile of powdered donuts with text: Nothing like a sweet day in the lab.
Workers eating lunch on metal scaffold with text: Seriously, how hard was that?
Beaker with liquid with text: It it half full? or half empty?
A single cheese puff with text: MMMMM... cheese.
X-ray of bucket with text: Pails in comparison.
Hand bell with text: Ring bell for service.
Twin babies with sticky note names on their foreheads with text: Choose an established method. And make sure the work is reproducible.
Closeup of a tuning rod with text: You can tune a piano, but you can't tuna fish.
Tattoo in progress with text: Document everything. Yes, everything.
Dance steps painted on the floor with text: There's a right way to do everything.
Chewed pencil with text: Don't just test samples. Test yourself, too.
Dart board with bullseyes with text: Use established techniques, or when not available, make sure to the work is reproducible.
Egyptian hieroglyphs with text: Keep your data, not matter how you first recorded it.
Duct tape with text: Is there anything that can't be fixed with duct tape?
Baseball with text: Life gets more interesting when you bring your balls into the lab.
Close up of pumpkin stem with text: Here in the lab, we regularly enjoy using our gourds.
Stacked nuts with text: Finally, proof that we've been busting our nuts in the lab.
Candies with text: Eureka!
Fish with text: What happens if you catch a 40 lb fish with a 20 lb fishing line?
Old candy with text: Ever wonder how engineers build biodges in candyland?
Zipper with text: We've seen a lot of synthetic materials in our 25 years.
Empty axis with text: Guess who made our first 25 years possible.
Pinwheel with text: 25 years ago, we started our company with interest in alternate energy.
Two scientists in a lab with text: Of all the great duos of the 80's, only one has outdated them all.
Mineral rock with text: We've taken this, the occasion of our 25th - or - silver - anniversary, to renew our vows.
Jello with text: For 25 years, we've preformed countless tests, but some things still defy explanation.
Work gloves in dirt with text: Twenty five years later, we still love playing in the dirt.
X-ray of a bag: Only through painstakingly precise testing does it all become clear: it's not just what's on the inside that counts.
Light switch with text: Now open for nuclear work.
Hockey stick with text: Everything has a breaking point. Our job is to help you find yours.
Plant with text: I came to the United States to make discoveries.
Oreo cookies and milk with text: For accuracy, only one thing matters when you're testing a solid's interaction with a liquid. Repeatability.
Stacked rocks with text: Testing matters. Particularly for bridges that are showing their age.
Cracked bowling ball with text: Experienced with even the most complicated tests.
Lolly pop with text: Yes, occasionally you do need to know what's at the very core.
Mashed potatoes and gravy with text: Of course, the ultimate performance of any dam hinges on a thoroughly detailed site evaluation.
Hot dog with pile of toppings with text: Structural failure is not an option.
Golf ball on tee with text: Mercifully, quantitative methods for precision driving.
Brains in a grid with text: We're pleased to add some fresh new thinking to our geosynthetics lab.
Vinyl record with text: We've been testing all kinds of material, including vinyl, since the days of, well, vinyl
Full water balloon with text: We've been testing the limits of membranes since we were kids. And yes, that was a very long time ago.
Fork in lasagna with text: A thorough site evaluation is the only way to be really, really sure.
Toy car racetrack with text: How well a highway performs is directly proportional to the quality of the data used in building it.
Novelty X-ray glasses with text: Introducing one more service that makes us certifiable.
Gold star with text: The propriety and precise testing methodologies of geotechnics reveal our high level of gratitude.
Goldfish in bag with text: Any material should be able to withstand intense scrutiny.
Stack of donuts with text: Rigorous testing requires an adequate number of samples for truly reliable results
Ant farm with text: It's amazing what you'll uncover through accurate subsurface exploration documentation.
Full diaper with text: Never underestimate the effects of weight load and permeability.

GEO-SAMPLERS

    PITTSBURGH
    544 Braddock Avenue
    East Pittsburgh, PA 15112
    Phone (412) 823-7600

    RALEIGH
    2200 Westinghouse Boulevard, Suite 103
    Raleigh, NC 27604
    Phone (919) 876-0405

    NASHVILLE
    13 Industrial Park Drive, Suite 500
    Hendersonville, TN 37075
    Phone (615) 590-7695

    ST. LOUIS
    550 Axminister Drive
    Fenton, MO 63026
    Phone (636) 600-0440