Evergreen Mulching & Landworks LLC

Erosion and sediment control keeps disturbed soil on the site and out of storm drains, ditches and neighboring property while construction is under way and until vegetation is established. Under the federal Clean Water Act, any project that disturbs one acre or more needs coverage under a construction stormwater permit and a written plan, commonly called a SWPPP, and many cities set lower thresholds. The physical work is simple and unglamorous: silt fence trenched in along the downhill perimeter, a stone construction entrance so trucks do not track mud onto the road, protection around every inlet, check dams in ditches, and erosion control blanket or hydroseed on slopes. What most owners underestimate is the maintenance: controls have to be inspected after every rain of a quarter inch or more and repaired, and inspectors write violations for torn fence and full silt traps, not for missing paperwork.

Excavation contractors dig and move earth for foundations, basements, utilities, pools and site cuts. Most residential jobs run on a mini or mid-size excavator paired with a skid steer and a dump truck; larger cuts bring in a dozer or scraper. The price depends less on the size of the hole than on what is in the ground: clay, ledge rock, high groundwater and buried utilities all slow the machine down and change the hauling math. Before the bucket touches dirt the site needs an 811 utility locate, and any trench deeper than five feet needs a protective system under OSHA rules.