We move the ground first, so everything built on it stays put.
Big Red Construction digs building pads, septic systems, footings, driveways and
drainage across Rapid City, Rapid Valley, Colonial Pine Hills and the wider Black Hills.
Family-operated, out of 1823 Husker Place.
Clear the lot, strip and stockpile the topsoil, cut and fill until the
ground matches the plan, then compact it. A slab or a foundation is only ever as good as the
pad underneath it, and in the Hills that means dealing with slope, clay and rock before a
single form goes up.
Before. Shot to take: the raw lot from the road, standing where the
front of the house will be, with the slope readable across the frame.After. You already have this one — Gallery site works.jpg
on your current gallery page. Same angle as the before shot is what makes the pair work.
Scope
Clearing, topsoil strip, cut & fill, rough and finish grade, compaction to plan
Tank hole dug to depth and bedded level, lateral lines trenched on grade,
backfilled and the surface put back the way we found it. We work to the county-approved
design and dig it so the inspector signs it off the first time.
Before. Shot to take: the yard with the flags and paint down, before the
machine arrives. Include the house in the background for scale.After. You already have this one — septic prep.jpg
on your current gallery page. Worth a second frame of the yard restored.
Scope
Tank excavation and bedding, drainfield trenching, backfill, surface restoration
Works with
Your installer and the county-approved system design
Lead time
Book early — the calendar fills through the dig season
Deep footings, basement and crawlspace excavation, over-dig for the
waterproofing crew, then backfill and compaction once the walls are up. Dug to frost depth
and to the engineer's dimensions, not to whatever the machine felt like doing that day.
Before. Shot to take: the staked and strung corners on undisturbed
ground, taken from a corner so the batter boards read.After. You already have this one — site development.jpg
(captioned “foundation prep”) on your current gallery page.
Scope
Deep footings, basement and crawlspace digs, over-dig, backfill and compaction
Depth
To frost depth and to the plan dimensions
Also
Rock and bedrock work — common on Hills lots, priced honestly up front
Land clearing, access roads a concrete truck can actually get up,
culverts, ditching and grading so water runs away from the building instead of into it.
Most of the drainage calls we get are on ground that was graded the wrong way years ago.
Before. Shot to take: the standing water, the washout or the overgrown
approach — whatever the customer actually complained about.After. You already have this one — Excavation Gallery.jpg
on your current gallery page. Same spot, same time of day if you can.
Scope
Land clearing, soil stabilisation, access roads, culverts, ditching, finish grading
Fixes
Standing water, washed-out approaches, ground that falls toward the house
Equipment
Excavators, dozers and trenchers — sized to the job, not to the invoice
The one pair we haven't taken yet. Call or text and we'll come look at it,
then you get a written estimate with the job and the cost on it before anything moves.
Nobody can quote a dig from a phone call alone — soil type, machine
size, terrain and what turns up buried all move the number. These are the ranges to plan
against. You get a written estimate before we start.
Typical hourly ranges [CONFIRM RATES]
Basic labour
$50–$60 / hour
Machine time
$75–$100 / hour
Larger site development & demolition
$100–$400 / hour
Estimates are free. Nothing is charged before you have the written
estimate in your hand and have said yes to it.
Where we work
Rapid City, Rapid Valley and Colonial Pine Hills day to day, and the rest of Pennington
County and the Black Hills region on request. We also take work across western South
Dakota and into the Nebraska Panhandle.
Big Red Construction
1823 Husker Place
Rapid City, SD 57701 Open in Google Maps
Hours
Monday–Friday
7:30 AM – 7:00 PM
Saturday
Closed
Sunday
Closed
Outside those hours, text (605) 786-5714 and we'll pick it up in
the morning.
Why Big Red
Family-operated in Rapid City for [YEARS] years.
Same people on the phone and on the machine.
Licensed, bonded and insured. Certificate available on request before work starts
[LICENCE #].
A written estimate, every time. The job and the cost, on paper, before a machine
is unloaded.
We tell you the lead time honestly. Bigger excavation jobs usually need about four
weeks' notice. If we can't do it when you need it, we'll say so.
Satisfaction guaranteed. We don't leave the site until you're happy with it.
Also on the books
Dirt work is the bulk of what we do, but we're a general contractor and the same crew
carries a job further when you want it to:
Custom home builds
New homes, additions and commercial buildings — framing, wiring, plumbing,
flooring, drywall, finishing, roofing and HVAC, with vetted trades under one contract.
Electrical
Residential and commercial wiring, panel replacements, new switches, outlets and
fixtures, done by certified electricians.
