Dirt Work
Dirt hauled in and spread, low spots built up, yards and lots leveled, pads built and drives cut in around Bastrop and Monroe, with our own excavator, skid steer and dump truck.
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Monroe sits in the Ouachita River valley, and the ground changes within a block. The old core of the city is built on natural levee silt loam that drains and digs well. Step off that ridge and you are in Perry and Portland clay, the heavy backswamp ground. That is why one yard dries after a rain and the yard two streets over holds water.
Dupree's Dirt and Excavation is a dirt work and excavation contractor based in Bastrop. Monroe is a straight run down US-165 from there, and we work the city and the parish around it. We haul dirt in and spread it, build low ground up, and grade yards and lots so water runs off. We also do land clearing, demolition, house pads and ponds, so call (318) 614-2073.
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Soil maps around Monroe show the split plainly. The natural levee soils, Sterlington, Gallion and Rilla, are well drained silt loams. The backswamp soils, Portland and Perry, are poorly drained clay that swells wet and cracks dry. Hebert sits between them, and its seasonal water table runs high from December through April.
That decides how a job runs here. On the levee ridges a cut or a pad goes in clean and the dirt handles well. Out in the clay we plan for wet ground, slower hauling and more yard and lot grading to move water off.
The same soil survey maps pits, dumps and man-placed fill inside the city. What sits under an older Monroe lot is not always native dirt. We dig the bad ground out, haul it off and bring back fill that will hold.
Monroe sits about 72 feet above sea level and the ground is flat. Bayou DeSiard winds through the north side of the city and crosses the ULM campus. Water moves slowly on ground like that, and the clay under the grass holds it.
The parish is plain about where the water comes from. Ouachita Parish names backwater flooding off the Ouachita River tributaries, Youngs Bayou and Chauvin Canal. In March 2016 the area took 15 to 20 inches of rain in three days and about 9,500 homes flooded.
Grading is what we can do about surface water. We cut the high spots, fill the low ones and slope the yard away from the house. The same shaping keeps a gravel drive crowned so the rock stays put. A drainage system with pipe and catch basins is a different trade.
Much of central Monroe is mapped inside the Special Flood Hazard Area. FEMA shows AE, A and AO zones around the city, plus regulatory floodway. That is why so much of what gets built here starts with a raised dirt pad.
Ouachita Parish publishes it plainly: all development and construction require permits in the parish. The office asks owners to check in before they build, place a structure, alter, grade or place fill. That covers dirt work, so the permit question comes up before the machines do.
Inside the city limits, permits go through City of Monroe Engineering, Inspections and Permitting on Lea Joyner Expressway. Outside them, the Ouachita Parish Police Jury Building Permit Office sits on DeSiard Street. It handles building permits, flood zone determinations and elevation certificates. We point you at the right desk, and the owner or the builder pulls the permit.
Monroe is the biggest city in northeast Louisiana, with 47,702 people counted in 2020. Its housing stock is old, with a median year built of 1971 across 21,317 units. The city also publishes an open planning docket, and a downtown economic development district master plan is in the works.
City code enforcement treats dilapidated structures as blight and a nuisance. They have to be repaired, brought up to city codes or demolished, and owners get 30 days after written notice. Condemnation hearings run the second and fourth Tuesday of each month at the City Council meeting. When the answer is teardown, the excavator and the grapple take it down and our truck hauls it off.
An EF3 tornado with winds near 140 mph hit the Brownsville and Bawcomville area on Easter Sunday in 2020. The remnants of Laura and Delta followed that fall, and winter storms hit the parish in February 2021. Downed limbs and trunks on the ground get picked up with the grapple and hauled off. A licensed arborist handles standing or hanging trees near a house.
Communities and areas we serve around Monroe: North Monroe, Highland Park, Town and Country, River Oaks, Lakeshore, Garden Park, Huntington Park, Northgate, Forest Home, Cypress Point, Bayou DeSiard, Country Club Lake.
Monroe ZIP codes served: 71201, 71202, 71203.
Free estimates throughout Ouachita Parish and the parishes around it.
(318) 614-2073 Dirt hauled in and spread, low spots built up, yards and lots leveled, pads built and drives cut in around Bastrop and Monroe, with our own excavator, skid steer and dump truck.
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We dig footings and cut and fill lots across northeast Louisiana. Soft ground comes out, good fill goes back in, and the spoil leaves in our dump truck.
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We clear lots, home sites, fence lines and grown-up acreage with the excavator and the skid steer. Stumps and root balls come out, the debris is hauled off, and the ground is smoothed back down.
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We take houses, mobile homes, sheds, barns and garages down with our excavator and grapple. The debris leaves in our dump truck and the lot gets graded behind it.
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We build and rebuild gravel driveways, private roads and parking pads across northeast Louisiana. The base is cut and shaped first, then rock is hauled in our dump truck and spread.
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We level and grade yards, lots and acreage around Bastrop. Low spots get filled, high ground gets cut, and the surface is sloped so water leaves.
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We build raised dirt pads for houses, shops, barns and mobile homes. Topsoil comes off, select fill goes in, and the pad is compacted and sloped.
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We dig farm, fishing and stock ponds on rural land around Bastrop. The basin, the dam and the spillway are all our work.
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We pick up storm debris with the grapple on our excavator and haul it off in our dump truck. Damaged sheds and barns come down, and the lot gets graded back out.
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We haul fill dirt, select fill, topsoil, sand, gravel and crushed limestone by the load. It can be dumped where you want it or spread and graded with the skid steer.
Learn MoreA few of the questions we hear most around Monroe. If yours is not here, call and ask.
Tell us where the property is and what you want done, and we will set a time to come look. Call (318) 614-2073, or fill out the form and we will get back to you.
Tell us about the job. We will get right back to you.