Dirt work in Durant runs into clay. Soil scientists mapped a series here and named it Durant, after this county. It sits on the ridge tops and drains very slowly. Rain runs off the top and stands in the low spots. In a dry August that clay cracks open wide and deep. Ground that moves like that will not hold a flat pad. Pads have to be built up in lifts and packed. We run a Cat D6 dozer and a 30,000-pound excavator out of Ada.
Durant sits about 56 miles south of us. Hauling a dozer that far costs real money, so we price the trip once and do the whole job. Most calls here are a full scope. Clear the pad site, cut the drive, set culvert, and shape the ditches on one mobilization. The town grew more than 17 percent between 2010 and 2020. Most of our work sits outside the city limits. See how far we run the machines, then call (580) 344-7473.
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The Durant soil series was mapped and named in Bryan County. Its type site sits a few miles from Albany, out toward Blue. It formed in clay weathered from Cretaceous shale and claystone. The official description calls permeability very slow and runoff high to very high. During a dry spell that clay cracks more than an inch wide and 30 inches down. We cut down to firm material first. Then we build the pad up in lifts and compact each one. We plan the cut and the borrow up front. After that we shape the ground around it so water leaves. On this dirt, moving the water is most of the job.
Bryan County hands you two very different dirt jobs. The Blue River drains most of the county, and Lake Texoma forms the whole southern line. Down in the bottoms the dirt is softer and water sits closer to the surface. Tracks sink, and the pad has to come up higher than owners expect. Out on the upland pasture the clay is tight and slopes run zero to six percent. That is flat enough to look easy and flat enough to hold water. We read which one you have first. Either way the pad comes up out of the wet. We leave a pad roughed and level to grade for the concrete crew.
Durant has steady jobs holding it up. The Choctaw Nation runs its headquarters and casino resort here and employs more than 5,400 people. Southeastern Oklahoma State University carries about 5,200 students. Dallas is 88 miles down US 69 and 75, and Lake Texoma is under 15 miles away. The city is rewriting its zoning code under a plan called Envision Durant 2040. City staff have said the old code was written for a different time. On the ground that shows up as acreage getting split and sold. A five or ten acre piece needs a drive off the county road and a house pad. It also needs grading and leveling around both.
A fresh split usually starts as pasture with a cedar line and an old fence row. We take the cedars out by the root with the dozer and the excavator. Stumps come out of the ground, so the pad and the yard stay buildable and mowable. Ground that got mulched still has stumps under it, and we get called to clean those jobs up. After the clearing we cut the drive, set culvert where the ditch crosses, and build the pad. The tracked skid steer does the finish grade around the house site and the septic area. It all goes in one mobilization, and the lot reaches the builder ready.
More about the service itself is on our Dirt Work page, and everything we do around town is on the Durant service-area page.
Answers specific to dirt work work around Durant. Something else on your mind? Call us.
Cedar taking the pasture, a pad to build, an old house to take down, or a pond you have been thinking about for years? Call or send the form. We come look at the property with you, and the estimate is free, from the owner who runs the machines.
Tell us about your property and we'll get back to you fast.
