"Decades of Digging" Article in Interiors Colorado Magazine

Direct excerpt from Interiors Colorado Magazine Article:

“Dirt-digging isn’t a sexy job, but it’s integral to the valley’s development—and often overlooked. In Pitkin County, hundreds of thousands of tons of soil and rocks are excavated, hauled and backfilled each year, and nobody knows how to do it better than Stutsman Gerbaz Earthmoving. The 58-year- old multigenerational family-owned company started when the industry was fledgling in the Roaring Fork Valley, and today, with more than 40 employees, it’s excavated 2,000-plus projects around Aspen, from major hotels, standard residential grading and one headlineworthy double-basement.

But larger projects aren’t the only change the company has seen in nearly six decades. “There is now a very wide selection and variety of equipment available to excavation contractors,” says Dave Stutsman, president and one of three second-generation owners of Stutsman Gerbaz

Earthmoving. Technology has evolved, and GPS navigation for excavation has been a game-changer for the industry. “Accuracy and efficiency are increased, and there’s a potential for cost savings and time,” says Shay Stutsman, Dave’s son, who is now vice president of the company. What used to require three men with strings and measuring tape can now be done via satellite and a computer docked in a bulldozer. “We’re not reducing people; however, we’re using them more effectively,” says Shay.

GPS excavation puts equipment in a semiautonomous mode, nailing precision and speed the way most human operators can’t. There’s smaller room for error, and it helps less skilled workers be better at their jobs. A GPS system for a bulldozer can cost more than $100,000, and the company has the GPS capability for three pieces of equipment rotating between its numerous ongoing

jobs. (Two other excavation companies in the valley, Aspen Digger Inc. and Heyl Construction, also use GPS.) “It’s cool to use modern technology to advance a traditional trade,” says Shay.

The earthmoving company is generally the first on the job, to prepare the site, and among the last to leave, to seal it up. Currently, it’s working on the redevelopment of the Pitkin County building, Aspen Police Department, Snowmass- Wildcat Fire Protection District fire station and multiple custom homes in the upper Roaring Fork Valley. And today’s projects can be more complicated than in the past. “Utility and storm water systems have become more technical,” says Dave. “The systems have more pipe and generally larger, heavier structures fit into smaller areas. Most projects now have tighter working spaces.” While the technology is there to help them, it’s the years of experience that can’t be bought.