Stringless Paving: A Short film

Job sites are looking a little different these days. Is that a make-shift stringless paving scene? It sure is. And instead of actors, it was our employee-owners who set the stage. Over a three-week span, Emery Sapp & Sons (ESS) hosted specialized training sessions for a select group of superintendents, foreman, and new hires. Check out the short film for yourself.

Throughout the movie, sorry training, these employee-owners received hands-on experience with Leica Stringless technology. We hope you’re paying attention. As you can see, we transformed a rented building to simulate parking lots and highways for staking practice. The trainees put panels on push carts with their Leica Stringless technology and used emulators to project the panel onto a bigger screen. Everyone was able to see what was going on at once, giving all of our trainees an opportunity to ask questions – the only “movie” where asking questions is actually acceptable.

“At ESS, we believe that taking the time to train now can mean all the difference when it comes time to do the work later. It exposes them to what would actually happen. It’s an investment in both our people and our technology and we’ve built that reputation through our training programs. We want our employee-owners to feel confident when they get out there and feel as though their job is instinct.” shared Tyler Grotewiel, Surveying and Construction Technology Manager here at ESS.

Hit pause because this isn’t our first take… In fact, we held the first stringless training sessions back in 2021, but it was only designed for new hires at the time. Now in the sequel, we’ve been able to reevaluate the program and double-down on the benefits. This year, each paving foreman and superintendent from crews company wide were invited to attend in addition to our new hires. We discovered tremendous value in cross-training our employee-owners at this level. It helps spread the wealth of knowledge and resources across the different teams.

No stunt doubles in this film. This training was led by our very own Stringless Tech Manager, Brian Nafzger, and Stringless Paving Technician, Lucas Kempfer. These two are both a part of our extraordinary GPS operations team here at ESS.

Kudos to the cast and everyone involved in this training. We look forward to continuing the program next year for the trilogy and beyond. Until then, that’s a wrap! 🎬