Our Excavation Solutions
A footing trench, a house pad, a pond excavation, and a lot covered in brush can all look like excavation projects, but they’re different problems with different solutions. Digging without understanding what’s below the surface wastes money. Shallow rock requires a different approach than unstable clay, and a building pad isn’t prepared the same way as a pond basin. Bradley County soil conditions create all of them. We assess the site first before recommending anything.
Excavation in Cleveland TN
Excavation contractor in Cleveland TN we run the equipment ourselves
Excavation in East Tennessee isn’t like excavation in flat, sandy country. Rock ledge shows up at unpredictable depths. Clay subsoil near the creek corridors saturates and turns unstable after heavy rain. Grade changes across most Bradley County lots take multiple cuts to produce a level building area. We run the equipment ourselves, the person who assessed your site is making the calls when something unexpected shows up underground, not relaying a decision down a subcontract chain.
FOOTING EXCAVATION
HOUSE PAD EXCAVATION
SITE PREPARATION
LAND CLEARING
GRADING
POND EXCAVATION
Benefits of Working With Pullen's Land Work
OWNER RUNS THE EQUIPMENT
The Person Who Assessed Your Site Makes the Calls Underground
When rock ledge or saturated clay shows up underground, the person making the call is the same person who walked your site and quoted the job. Unexpected conditions get handled on the spot. You hear about them before we proceed, not after.
FOOTINGS TO FROST DEPTH, NOT TO MINIMUM
Bradley County Frost Depth Is 12-18 Inches. We Dig to That
Footings set above frost depth heave with the freeze-thaw cycle. Cumulative movement cracks structures above them after a few winters. We dig to correct depth, remove unsuitable material, leave it square and clean.
UTILITIES FOUND BEFORE THE BUCKET GOES IN
Tennessee 811 Plus Private Line Assessment at Every Site
Public utilities get marked by 811 at no charge. Private lines don’t. On rural Bradley County properties those are exactly what gets struck. We ask about private installations during the site visit and locate what we can before digging starts.
What Bradley County subsurface conditions actually look like
Bradley County’s subsurface conditions change a lot over short distances. Up against Candies Creek Ridge in North Cleveland, rock ledge can appear 12-18 inches below grade. Down in the bottomlands near South Mouse Creek and along the Tennessee River corridor, clay subsoil saturates after heavy rain and may need dewatering before equipment can work it. Two footing trenches on the same lot can hit completely different conditions depending on which end you’re digging.
The dominant soils across the Cleveland area include Emory silt loam in the bottomlands, Sequoia silty clay loam on the hillsides, and Udorthents, the disturbed cut-and-fill soils common in subdivisions built across North and South Cleveland from the 1970s through the 1990s. Clay swells when wet, shrinks when dry, and won’t compact into a stable long-term base without the right aggregate and technique.
Before any excavation, underground utilities have to be located and marked. Tennessee law requires a call to Tennessee 811 before digging, and we make that call on every job. Private lines, a buried propane line to a tank, a water line to a barn, an invisible-fence wire, a private septic field, aren’t covered by 811. Those are exactly what gets struck on rural Bradley County properties. We ask about private installations during the site visit and locate what we can before the bucket goes in the ground.