Build it again, SAM

Since its founding 50 years ago, local commercial masonry company Wasco has worked on Nissan Stadium, the Country Music Hall of Fame and Ascend Amphitheater, among others. This year, the company has broken some new ground of its own by being the first in the region to use the SAM100 bricklaying robot, most recently as part of its work on the new Welch College campus in Gallatin.

Wasco CEO Andy Sneed, son of company founder William A. Sneed, says having the SAM100 on a job is the equivalent of adding a mason to his team there, an asset that is growing in value as the regional shortage of skilled craftsmen worsens. Not that it’s a straight machine-for-man swap: Having the robot handle the repetitive task of actually laying the bricks frees up the masons to focus on quality control and attaching other construction parts to the wall.