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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Swartz sits about seven miles northeast of Monroe, on flat ground between Black Bayou Lake and Wham Brake. It is unincorporated, so what you see is platted subdivisions and small acreage instead of a town grid. Soil maps put Frizzell silt loam through the middle of it, on a 1 to 3 percent slope. That ground works fine to dig, but it is slow to shed water.
Dupree's Dirt and Excavation is a dirt work and excavation contractor based in Bastrop, straight up LA-139 from Swartz. The excavator, the skid steer and the dump truck are ours, so one company digs, grades and hauls. Around Swartz that means house pads and site prep, land clearing, demolition, gravel drives, yard grading and farm ponds. Call (318) 614-2073 and we will come look at the site.
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Frizzell silt loam runs through the middle of Swartz, and it is rated somewhat poorly drained. You can dig it and work it, but water wants to sit on it. On a 1 to 3 percent slope there is not much fall to help.
Two lots on the same road can dig differently. Soil maps around Swartz also carry well drained Rilla and Sterlington, along with poorly drained Guyton and Perry. The same maps show terrace escarpments, made land and old pits. Swartz sits where the Ouachita terrace breaks down toward the bottoms.
So we look at the site before we price it, and the estimate is free. What the dirt does when we open it up decides the fill and the pad height. It also decides how much bad ground has to be dug out and replaced.
Flat ground and slow soil are the short answer, and rain does the rest. Monroe Regional Airport averages about 55 inches a year in the 1991 to 2020 normals. April is the wettest month and September the driest, which is why late summer is good pad weather. The weather service has logged flash floods close by at Frizzell and Hancock.
Land grading is what fixes the surface. We cut the high spots and fill the low ones. Then we set a slope that carries water away from the house and off the drive. Fill dirt comes in by the load when a low yard has to be built up.
Grading moves water across the surface, and that is the work we do. A French drain, a catch basin or a storm pipe is a different trade. A drainage contractor is who you want for that. If a yard needs both, the grading still has to be right first.
Swartz has no town government, so everything runs through Ouachita Parish. The Ouachita Parish Police Jury permit office in Monroe handles building permits, flood zone determinations, elevation certificates and culvert permits. The parish rule is published plainly: all development in Ouachita Parish needs local and state permits. It also asks you to contact that office before any grading or placement of fill.
Flood maps matter here. Zone A shows up most in the maps around Swartz, with AE and Zone X also in the mix. Zone A carries no published base flood elevation, so that number has to come from somewhere. The parish floodplain administrator sets the elevation, and a licensed land surveyor prepares the elevation certificate.
The pad is how a house gets up to that height. We strip the topsoil and the organic layer, then haul in select fill. The fill goes down in lifts and is compacted as it goes. The pad is shaped to shed water off every side, and we cut the drive in while we are there.
The place names out here read like a list of subdivisions. Audubon Park, Hidden Oaks, Quail Creek Estates and Lakewood Estates sit within about a mile of the middle. Belle Meade, Eastwood Estates and Shenandoah are a couple of miles out. Census figures count about 1,821 housing units here, and the median build year is 1985.
Lots out here have room around them, so the drive runs long and takes rock. We cut the base out and shape a crown so water runs to the edges. Then gravel or crushed limestone comes in on our truck and gets spread. A gravel driveway on this ground lives or dies on that crown.
A drive that has washed out or rutted gets reshaped first, then topped back up with rock. The pipe at the road is a separate matter. Ouachita Parish Public Works surveys the spot and tells the permit holder what size pipe is needed. That call belongs to the parish.
Communities and areas we serve around Swartz: Audubon Park, Hidden Oaks, Quail Creek Estates, Lakewood Estates, Lakeview Park, Belle Meade, Eastwood Estates, Shenandoah, Frizzell Spur, Hancock, Wham Brake, Black Bayou Lake.
Swartz ZIP codes served: 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 Swartz. 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.