Excavation and demolition in Lakewood
Pierce County
Lakewood sits on prairie gravel, which makes it the best-draining ground anywhere we work and a genuinely different job from the valley cities north of it.
The ground in Lakewood
The ground here is glacial outwash — sand and gravel washed out ahead of the ice and left flat. It drains almost as fast as it rains, so the standing water that dictates the schedule in the valleys is rarely the problem down here.
Gravel cuts easily and stands badly. A trench wall in outwash sloughs without warning, so the shoring goes in on the short runs too.
Lots are larger and flatter than anything in Seattle, and because the native material is granular there is often usable fill already on site instead of something to truck away.
Areas we work in Lakewood
Access and terrain change a job more than anything else does. These are the parts of Lakewood we get called to and what each one usually means for the work.
- The lakes — American, Gravelly, Steilacoom
- Waterfront lots with mature trees and long private driveways. The approach usually decides the machine.
- Tillicum
- Small lots on a narrow strip between the freeway and the lake. Tight work with nowhere to stage.
- Lakewood Towne Center
- Large commercial parcels. Pavement and slab removal with open access and real volume to haul.
- Springbrook and Woodbrook
- Bigger parcels with room to balance cut and fill on site rather than trucking it both directions.
- The Steilacoom edge
- Bluff ground above the Sound where what holds the slope matters more than what comes out of it.
What Lakewood usually needs
- Site preparationRaw ground turned into a pad the next trade can work on.
- Excavation and earthworkDigging to grade, and ground that holds what goes on it.
- Trucking and haulingMaterial in, spoil and debris out.
Working in Lakewood?
Tell us what the site is and what has to come out. We would rather look at it than price it off a drawing.