Dirt and spoils haul-off, so the excavator keeps digging

What we haul away

• Foundation and basement spoils from new construction.
• Stripped organics and peat from a lot before fill goes in.
• Old driveway and pad material, including broken asphalt and concrete, sorted.
• Trench spoils from utility and septic work.
• Landscape tear-outs: sod, root balls, the failed retaining wall.

What we do not haul is anything that is or might be contaminated: fuel-stained soil, drums, tank pull material. That goes through a licensed handler under the Department of Environmental Conservation's rules, and if you are not sure whether your dirt qualifies, that is the first phone call, not us.

Where the dirt goes

Clean spoils have value or at least a home. Sandy and gravelly excavation goes to a pit as fill and often costs nothing to tip; peaty organics go to a disposal site that takes them, and there is a tipping fee. Broken asphalt is wanted, and some outfits will take it off your hands for nothing depending on where it sits, because it becomes RAP; concrete is accepted at recyclers that crush it into RCC. Which site we use depends on the material and your side of town, and it is on the quote, because the tipping fee is a real part of the cost and we would rather you see it than wonder about it.

How the cycle works

Haul-off is a rhythm job. One excavator can load a tandem in a few minutes; a round trip to the disposal site across town takes thirty to forty-five, so the question is how many trucks keep the bucket from waiting. For a basement in South Anchorage with a pit ten minutes away, two trucks run tight. For an Eagle River dig with spoils going to a Bowl site, three. We work that out from the volume and the route before the day starts, and we bill by the hour with the trucks-with-operators rates on the pricing page, so the math is visible.

The dump trucks with operators page covers hourly work in general; this page is about the specific problem of getting material off a site fast enough that the excavator stays productive.

Before the first load

1. Locates. Alaska law requires 811 notice at least two business days before any excavation, and the excavator, not the owner, is responsible. We will not stage on a site with no locate marks.
2. Permit. Digging and moving more than a nominal amount of material in the Municipality falls under Title 23.105. The excavator usually carries it; confirm who has it.
3. Access. A loaded truck is about 25 tons. A soft driveway or a lawn approach becomes a rut you also pay to fix. Mats or a gravel pad at the entry cost less than the repair.
4. Route. Spring weight restrictions on state and Borough roads change which route a loaded truck can legally take; see the breakup page.

Volume: what a hole turns into

Dirt swells when you dig it. A basement excavation of 100 bank yards becomes 120 to 130 loose yards in the truck, which is 13 or more loads in our 12-ton trucks, not 10. Clay swells more, sand less. Plan trucks on loose yards and you will not be a load short at four in the afternoon.