Excavation & Dirt Work in Midland & Odessa, TX

Most paving failures are dirt work failures. The asphalt gets blamed because that's what cracked, but the cause is almost always underneath, ground that wasn't cleared properly, a grade that holds water, or fill that was never compacted.

West Tex Paving does its own excavation and site preparation rather than subcontracting it out. That means one crew is accountable from bare ground to finished surface, and nobody gets to blame the stage before theirs.

Drainage is the whole job

West Texas rain arrives all at once. Ground that looks flat sheds nothing, so water sits exactly where it fell and works down into the base. Every surface we build, asphalt, chip seal, caliche, is only as good as the fall built under it.

So grading isn't just leveling. It's deciding where the water goes and shaping the ground to send it there: crown on a road so it drains both ways, cross-fall on a lot toward an outlet, swales where the volume needs somewhere to run. On flat sites that fall has to be created, because nothing about the natural ground will do it for you.

Compaction is the other half. Fill placed and not compacted settles, and settlement under a paved surface shows up as a low spot that ponds, which puts you back at the same problem from a different direction.

Do you do dirt work on its own, or only with paving?

Both. Plenty of our excavation and grading work stands alone, clearing a site, shaping a pad, fixing drainage on ground that isn't going to be paved at all.

How much does site preparation cost?

It depends on the area, how much material has to move, whether spoil hauls off or stays on site, equipment access, and how much drainage work the ground needs. Sites close to level cost far less than ones needing real cut and fill. We look and give a free itemized written estimate.

My lot holds water after rain. Can that be fixed?

Usually yes. Ponding means there's no fall to an outlet, the outlet is blocked, or the surface has settled into a low spot. The fix depends which, regrading to build fall, cutting a swale, or excavating and rebuilding the settled area.

Why does compaction matter so much?

Uncompacted fill settles under load. Under a paved surface that becomes a low spot, the low spot ponds, water gets into the base, and the pavement fails there first. Compacting in lifts costs a fraction of fixing it afterwards.

Can you work on rural properties outside town?

Yes. Most of our dirt work is rural. Ranch, farm and oilfield sites across Midland, Odessa, Andrews, Crane, Monahans, Big Spring and the surrounding counties.