Do you install water mains and sanitary sewer mains?
We do the excavation half of that work — open-cut trench to depth and line, bedding stone, pipe laid on bed, backfill in compacted lifts, and surface restoration. We are an earthwork contractor, not a licensed plumbing contractor, so tapping a live main, making up joints on a pressure main, pressure testing, and chlorination and disinfection are handled by the licensed utility contractor, the plumber, or the municipality's own crew. On most water and sewer main jobs in this area we are the dirt sub on a general contractor's package.
Are you an underground utility contractor?
We are the earthwork side of underground utility work. We open and backfill utility trenches for water main, sanitary sewer, storm sewer, and service lines, we set the grade the pipe rides on, and we restore the surface. The connection work — taps, valves, meters, plumbing and electrical make-up — belongs to the licensed trade or the utility. That split is the same on a municipal job as it is on a house.
Do you do storm sewer work?
Yes, and it is the part of this lane we do most. Storm sewer is earthwork and structure setting rather than licensed plumbing: trench to grade, bed and lay pipe, set inlets and structures, backfill and compact, and grade the surface back. It has been in our sitework scope on commercial and public packages, including a county highway department annex bid and a trailer-park site development that included utilities, storm drains, and drainage ditches.
Do you bore or directional drill under roads?
No. We are an open-cut contractor. Directional drilling and boring are a separate trade with separate equipment, and when a job calls for a bore under a road or a creek we bring in a drilling partner for that item rather than pretend it is ours. If a project is mostly bore work, we will tell you that up front.
Will you work as a subcontractor for a general contractor?
Yes — that is most of how we work on water and sewer main projects. We bid the earthwork line items out of the plan set: excavation, trench, bedding and backfill material, structure excavation, restoration, and hauling. Send the plans and the bid form and we will price our scope and quote it clean, so it drops straight into your bid.
Do you bid prevailing wage public work?
Yes. Prevailing-wage public sitework is normal for us and it is priced as prevailing wage, not as private work. We do not bid union job sites or projects under a project labor agreement — that is a separate thing from prevailing wage, and it is the one category we pass on.
What size pipe and how deep can you go?
Our Komatsu PC150LC-6 handles the trench depths typical of water main and sanitary sewer work in this area, and the Cat D6N with laser grade control does the surface and subgrade side. Deep sanitary runs, wide trench sections, and anything needing extensive dewatering or shoring get looked at on the plans before we quote, because that is where a job stops being routine. We would rather tell you it is out of our range than find out at the bottom of the hole.
Are you insured, and can you provide a certificate?
Yes. Full liability and equipment coverage, and a certificate of insurance is available on request — usually the first thing a general contractor or a village clerk asks for.
What counties do you cover for water and sewer main work?
Mattoon, Illinois out to about 60 miles — Coles, Douglas, Moultrie, Cumberland, Shelby, Effingham, Edgar, Clark, Champaign, and Piatt counties, plus the surrounding area. That covers Charleston, Sullivan, Arcola, Tuscola, Arthur, Neoga, Shelbyville, Effingham, Paris, Champaign, Urbana, Decatur, and the villages in between.