Excavation Contractors in Cincinnati, OH

Excavation contractors in Cincinnati work in a city spread across hills, bluffs and low ridges that overlook the Ohio River. Hamilton County runs from about 455 feet at the river to 1,045 feet at its high point, and most homes sit somewhere on that slope. We do residential and small-site earthwork across the city and its suburbs: grading and slide repair on hillsides, clearing and prepping land, digging ponds and pools, building drainage, trenching for utilities and septic lines, and excavating for retaining walls.

Why slopes here need extra care

Much of the city's bedrock is the Kope Formation, about three-quarters shale with thin limestone layers. Exposed shale slakes, breaking down into a stony, silty clay that collects on hillsides as colluvium. The USGS found that this colluvium fails when slopes are disturbed: thin slides move during heavy rain, and thicker ones can start after grading. Reported triggers included a cut made for new apartments and fill placed on the downhill edge of Delhi Pike. Slopes with thin colluvium ran about 18 to 25 degrees.

What it has cost

In the six years from 1973 to 1978, landslides cost Hamilton County nearly $31 million, about $5.80 per resident per year. The 1974 Mount Adams slide alone led to nearly $30 million in later spending, and the city was spending about half a million dollars a year on emergency street repairs from slides. Those numbers are why we look at the whole slope before agreeing to cut or fill on one.

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Soil that sheds water

The Eden soil series, mapped across hills in southern Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana, formed from interbedded shale, siltstone and limestone. Its subsoil is silty clay or clay over bedrock just 20 to 40 inches down, with slow permeability. Most Eden slopes run 20 to 30 percent. Water runs off quickly and soaks in slowly, so drainage design and erosion control matter on almost every job.

The 811 rule

Ohio's one-call statute, ORC 3781.28, sets a window for digging notice: no less than two working days before work starts, with the notice day itself not counted, and no more than 16 calendar days out. Utility owners then mark their lines within two working days under ORC 3781.29. Our crews file every ticket and keep the bucket out of the ground until the paint and flags are down.

Weather

Cincinnati gets about 45 inches of precipitation and roughly 23 inches of snow a year, with January lows in the low 20s. Wet spells are when hillsides move, so we time major slope work for drier weather and keep erosion control in place until vegetation returns.

Who calls us

Homeowners with a sliding backyard, a wet slope or a lot that needs clearing. Landowners in the northern and eastern suburbs who want a pond, a pad for a pole barn or a long driveway cut. Builders and remodelers who need site prep, utility trenches and wall excavation done carefully on sloping ground.

Call (513) 960-3309 or use the estimate form, and we will set up a time to walk the property with you.

We cover Cincinnati's 52 neighborhoods and suburbs across Hamilton County, plus West Chester and Fairfield in Butler County, Mason in Warren County, and Milford and Union Township in Clermont County. Riverside and west-side hills such as Price Hill and Delhi have steep slopes and old colluvium. The northern suburbs are gentler, with more open land, ponds and new construction. The Little Miami and Great Miami valleys bring floodplain and aquifer concerns. Each town page covers what is different there.