Grading & Earthwork Services
Ditching, swale shaping, site grading, drainage correction, and land clearing for stormwater work. When water isn't flowing where it should, we regrade the land to fix it.
Water flows downhill. If the grade is wrong, the water goes to the wrong place.
Stormwater management begins at ground level. Before water reaches a pond, a pipe, or a catch basin, it flows across the surface of the land. The grading of that surface (the slopes, swales, ditches, and contours) determines where that water goes. When the grading is right, water flows to the designed collection and treatment points. When it's wrong, water pools in parking lots, floods building foundations, erodes landscaping, and bypasses the stormwater systems that are supposed to manage it.
Grading problems develop over time. Soil settles after construction, especially in the sandy Lowcountry soils that compact unevenly. Repeated landscape maintenance, utility work, and paving projects alter the subtle contours that originally directed water flow. Swales fill with sediment and lose their depth. Ditches become overgrown and lose capacity. Over a period of years, the property's drainage patterns shift, and areas that never had standing water begin to flood.
Grading problems also emerge from original construction that wasn't done correctly. Many properties, especially those developed during rapid building booms, were graded to minimum standards or had stormwater grading compromised by late design changes. These properties have had drainage issues from day one, and the owners have been dealing with the consequences ever since.
The fix is straightforward but requires proper equipment and understanding of drainage engineering. You need someone who can read the land, understand where the water is supposed to go, and move the earth to make it happen. That's what we do.
What our grading and earthwork services include.
Swale Shaping & Restoration
Swales are shallow, vegetated channels designed to collect and convey stormwater across a property. Over time, they fill with sediment, lose their grade, and stop moving water effectively. We reshape swales to restore proper depth, width, and slope, re-establishing the drainage pathways that keep your property dry. This is one of the most common and cost-effective drainage improvements for both residential communities and commercial properties.
Ditching & Ditch Maintenance
Ditches carry higher volumes of stormwater than swales and are critical to the drainage network on many Lowcountry properties. We excavate new ditches where additional drainage capacity is needed, clean and reshape existing ditches that have silted in or become overgrown, and stabilize ditch banks that are eroding. Proper ditch maintenance prevents localized flooding and protects roads, parking areas, and structures.
Site Grading & Regrading
When the overall grade of a site is directing water to the wrong places, we regrade to correct it. This includes establishing positive drainage away from buildings, creating proper sheet flow patterns across parking lots and open areas, and correcting low spots that trap standing water. Site regrading requires understanding the entire drainage picture: where the water needs to go, what systems are designed to receive it, and how the grade changes affect adjacent properties.
Drainage Correction
Drainage problems often have multiple causes. Standing water in a parking lot might be caused by a blocked pipe, a settled surface, a missing swale, or all three. We diagnose the complete drainage system, surface and subsurface, and implement corrections that address the root cause. This might include regrading, pipe repair, catch basin installation, swale reshaping, or a combination. The goal is to fix the problem permanently, not just move the water to a different location.
Pond & Basin Regrading
Detention basins and the areas surrounding retention ponds sometimes need regrading to restore proper function. Basin floors settle and develop low spots that hold standing water. Pond perimeters lose the grade that directs sheet flow into the pond. Access areas become rutted and damaged. We regrade these areas to restore designed drainage patterns and maintain BMP function.
Land Clearing for Stormwater Access
Stormwater infrastructure that has been neglected for years is sometimes overgrown to the point where vegetation must be cleared before maintenance can begin. We clear trees, brush, and overgrowth around ponds, detention basins, drainage easements, and outfall areas. We also clear for new stormwater construction: BMP installation, drainage rerouting, and grading projects that require starting with a cleared surface.
We bring the equipment. Every time.
Grading and earthwork require heavy equipment: excavators, skid steers, grading attachments, compactors, and hauling capacity. Most stormwater consulting firms don't own this equipment. They inspect, they report, and then they subcontract the physical work to an earthwork contractor who has their own schedule, their own priorities, and their own markup.
AUE Land owns the equipment and employs the operators. When we assess your grading problem and propose a solution, we're telling you what our crew will do with our equipment on a schedule we control. There's no gap between the assessment and the execution, no third party to coordinate with, and no markup from a middleman.
This matters especially for grading work, where the difference between a project done right and a project done poorly comes down to the operator's skill and attention to grade. A few inches of slope over a hundred feet of swale is the difference between water that flows and water that sits. Our operators understand stormwater grading, not just dirt moving.
Who needs grading and earthwork services?
HOAs with Drainage Complaints
Standing water in common areas, flooding near homes, and swales that no longer function are among the most frequent complaints HOA boards receive. Grading corrections resolve these issues by restoring proper drainage flow across the community. We work with boards and property managers to prioritize the most critical areas and phase work if the budget requires it.
Golf Course Superintendents
Drainage is fundamental to golf course playability. Cart path washouts, fairway edge erosion, standing water on playing surfaces, and failing course drainage systems all require grading expertise. We understand the sensitivity of working on active courses and coordinate with superintendents to schedule work that minimizes disruption.
Commercial Property Managers
Parking lot flooding, standing water near building foundations, and drainage problems between adjacent properties are common on commercial sites. These issues create liability, damage pavement, and can affect tenant operations. We correct commercial site grading to eliminate standing water and direct stormwater to the designed collection and treatment systems.
Developers and Builders
New construction requires precise stormwater grading to meet permit conditions. We perform the fine grading, swale construction, detention basin shaping, and drainage channel work that developers need to pass final inspection and close out their stormwater permits.
Grading and earthwork services by location.
We provide grading, ditching, swale shaping, and drainage correction across coastal South Carolina and Georgia.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the difference between grading and earthwork? expand_more
How do I know if my property needs regrading? expand_more
Can grading fix drainage problems without installing new pipes? expand_more
How long does a grading or earthwork project take? expand_more
Does AUE Land handle land clearing for stormwater work? expand_more
Ready for a site that thrives?
Request a site assessment. We'll walk your property, trace the drainage, and tell you exactly what grading corrections will solve the problem. No obligation to hire AUE Land for any service work.
fact_check Site Health Audit
No obligation to hire AUE Land for any service work.