Flooding.  It happens almost yearly anymore in Eastern Iowa.  As a homeowner it's important to have flood insurance to protect your residence and valuables if you lie in a flood plain or are prone to water seepage in your basement.

As a landowner, you sometimes need to take other preventative measures, as you can see below with our friends the Ostwinkles who live on North Cascade Road between Cascade, Iowa, and Epworth, Iowa.

For this family, the stream in the pasture behind their home provided exquisite views and relief for their cattle in the hot summer sun.  But after several years of flooding (and one extreme flood event in 2013), the banks along the stream bed had been eaten away and were now unstable and dangerous.

To help address this problem, the Ostwinkles turned to Gravel Grading & Excavating. We started by sending company owner Terry Gravel out to the property to assess the situation.  Terry took some initial photos and discussed with the owners what they were hoping to achieve on their land.  From those steps, Terry recommended completely restructuring the creek banks and stabilizing them with large chunks of crushed rock and concrete, otherwise known as rip-rap.

Terry and crew got started by grading back the banks of the creek with one of our John Deere tractors and dirt wagon.  This wagon has the hydraulic ability to both scrape off and then relocate dirt and gravel.  Once that step was completed, excavator operator Brian Noonan dug out additional sediment to improve water flow and creek drainage, particularly around culverts.  Our dozer was then called upon to finish out the grade, enabling our crew along with our friends from Eastern Iowa Transport to bring in truckload after truckload of rip-rap.  This would ensure that all our work would be protected for years to come, and high water flow would not undermine the stability of the new creek banks.

Our last step was to cover the rip rap with a layer of dirt to fill in the crevices and  lay grass mat that would promote the growth of grass and vegetation to slow water flow, thus preventing erosion and loss of topsoil in future rain events

Check out our photos and video below for a step-by-step walkthrough of the Ostwinkle property project from start to finish, and give Gravel Grading & Excavating a call for your next dirt-work project.  We'll move the earth for you!

Farmers in this area can tell you, no matter the season, there's always work to be done.  Though summer may be overlooked as a time to just sit back and watch the corn grow, this time of year our friends in the ag sector keep busy with spraying and side-dressing crops, cutting and baling hay, tending livestock, and prepping machinery for the impending harvest season.  Summer is also a time where farmers survey their fields for ways to improve efficiency and production and to implement erosion control measures.

Reconstructing waterways is one way to satisfy these needs. By clearing (cutting down and removing) and grubbing out (removing roots and stumps left behind) freely-growing trees and shrubs along fence lines and waterways, farmers can gain acres for additional planting which increases their production.  Or, as in the case of our clients pictured below, they needed additional erosion-control measures put in place to reduce field runoff after the heavy summer rains.  

In these photos from a crop farm near Monticello, IA, you can see how trees and shrubs had grown up along the creek near this field.  Not only did these growths get in the way of farm machinery, but the steep banks on the sides of the creek meant the landowner was losing precious dirt and topsoil when rainwater drained off the field.

To help aid water drainage, Gravel Grading & Excavating came in to alleviate the problem.  Using dozers and excavators, we started with clearing and grubbing the existing creek banks.  All trees and shrubs were removed and hauled away using our dump wagon.  We then laid back the banks at a better grade to allow for maximum water retention and less loss of soil for our farmer.  Our last step of this project was to lay down grass mat and seed to encourage quick regrowth of natural grasses and ground cover.

Are plant growth or soil erosion something you struggle with on your farm? Let the experts at Gravel Grading & Excavating help reconstruct your waterways and move the earth for you!