Site Preparation: Everything It Takes to Get a Site Ready to Go Vertical
Clearing and grubbing, demolition, stripping, bulk cut and fill, moisture conditioning, the cap and a pad that passes its tests. IRONWILL Earthworks self-performs the whole sequence on commercial, industrial, municipal and federal sites across Texas and Oklahoma, built to the project's geotechnical report.
What site preparation covers, in the order we do it
Site preparation is everything it takes to get a piece of ground ready to go vertical. It is not one task. It is the whole sequence above, in that order, and IRONWILL Earthworks self-performs it on commercial, industrial, municipal and federal sites across Texas and Oklahoma.
On private work, which is most of what we build, the governing document is the project's geotechnical report. The building code makes it so: compacted fill under a shallow foundation has to comply with an approved geotechnical report2. On public work, TxDOT and federal specifications govern, and we build to those just as fluently4. We read the report and the specification before the takeoff, because between them they decide the cut, the moisture, the cap and the test every lift has to pass.
| Step | What happens | What governs it |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Clearing and grubbing | Trees, brush and roots out; the organics hauled, burned where local rules allow, or buried in green space | The plans, local burning rules, any tree preservation the plans call for |
| 2. Demolition | Flatwork and structural demo; concrete hauled to a crushing site | The demolition plan and the owner's environmental report |
| 3. Stripping | The top few inches of organic soil taken off and stockpiled, worked into the balance where the report allows, or hauled | The geotechnical report |
| 4. Bulk cut and fill | Bank cut to fill until the site balances, then import or export to reach grade | The grading plan's existing and proposed contours, in cubic yards |
| 5. Moisture conditioning | The pad soil brought to the moisture the report sets, and held there lift by lift | The geotechnical report2 |
| 6. The cap | Select fill, flex base or a lime-stabilized cap, whichever the report calls for | The geotechnical report2 |
| 7. Paving subgrade | Scarified and compacted, then lime or cement stabilized where the design requires it | The paving design; TxDOT specifications on public work4 |
| 8. Testing | Proof rolling, then density and moisture on every lift against the laboratory compaction curve | The project specification: ASTM methods on most private work, TxDOT methods on public work54 |
| 9. Finish | Backfill behind the curbs, re-spread topsoil, erosion controls standing until the site is stabilized | The plans and the stormwater plan1 |
Clearing, demolition and stripping
The first work on a site is taking off what should not be built on. Clearing and grubbing takes out the trees, brush and roots. On a rural site that does not always mean hauling it away: where local rules allow, the organics can be burned on site, or buried in green space and left to break down, which can take real cost out of a project. Demolition covers flatwork and structural demo, and the concrete goes to a crushing site rather than a landfill. Then the site is stripped: the top few inches of organic soil come off, and are stockpiled for reuse, worked into the balance where the geotechnical report allows it, or hauled.
Bulk cut and fill
Mass grading moves the site from its existing contours to its proposed contours. The cut goes to the fill until the site balances, and only then do we import or export what is left to reach grade. Everything is measured in cubic yards, and the cheapest yard is the one that never leaves the site. Knowing exactly where the ground sits today is what makes that balance work: we use drone surveys with our partners to map existing elevations, and that survey data goes straight into our AGTEK takeoffs. Bringing drone surveying in-house is the next step, and our estimating team is leading it.
Moisture conditioning, the cap and the subgrade
Clay moves with its water content, so the pad is built to hold its moisture. Geotechnical reports on commercial work usually give the owner a choice between moisture conditioning and chemical or water injection, and most of the owners we work for choose moisture conditioning: the soil is brought to the moisture the report sets and compacted in lifts, and every lift is tested before the next one goes on, so what is under the building is known, not assumed.
On top of that comes the cap. Geotechnical reports typically call for select fill, flex base or a lime-stabilized cap, and we build all three. Under pavement, every job is scarified and compacted, and most are then stabilized with lime or cement, or occasionally with cement kiln dust, which still turns up on some Oklahoma work.
Testing and handover
A pad that looks ready is not finished. The subgrade is proof rolled to find soft areas4, then each lift is tested for density and moisture against its laboratory compaction curve5: ASTM methods on most private work, TxDOT methods on public work, whichever the specification names. The site is handed to the next trade with the survey and the test reports together, the curbs backfilled, the topsoil re-spread and the erosion controls still standing under the stormwater plan1.
No two sites are the same ground
A soil can carry one name and behave differently five miles down the road, so we do not build from a map. We build from the geotechnical report and its boring logs, and we have worked with the major geotechnical firms in Dallas-Fort Worth. Public soil maps are where we start reading a site6, never where we finish. South toward Austin and San Antonio the ground changes again: Austin chalk, hard rock and limestone, and we know how to get through it.
What sits with the owner's civil engineer
Some decisions are made before an earthwork contractor is ever on site, and they belong to the owner's civil engineer: whether the site is in a floodplain, how it is zoned, how it drains, and which permits it needs. We build to the plan that comes out of that work and keep its drainage working through construction. If a project is still at the stage of those questions, our site preparation checklist covers what to have in hand before mobilization, and we can connect you with civil and geotechnical engineers we trust.
Partners where we do not self-perform
We self-perform the earthwork and some of the erosion control. Large erosion control scopes, traffic control on highway work and specialized shoring go to partners we have worked with before, and we carry the coordination, so the owner still deals with one contractor for the site.
Each step has its own page with the detail. For how the trade divides dirt work on a commercial site, read our note on dirt work contractors.
The order we work in
- Read the geotechnical report, the plans and the specification, and build the takeoff on them2
- Stormwater controls in, and the utilities located, before the ground is opened13
- Clear and grub; demolish what the plans show removed
- Strip and stockpile the organic soil
- Bulk cut and fill until the site balances, then import or export to grade
- Moisture condition the pad and build the cap the report calls for
- Scarify, compact and stabilize the paving subgrade
- Proof roll, then test density and moisture on every lift45
- Backfill the curbs, re-spread topsoil, and hand over the survey and the test reports together
What we bring to a site
- Fluency in the documents that govern the work: geotechnical reports, TxDOT and heavy highway specifications, the federal process, and ASTM test methods245
- Working relationships with the major geotechnical firms in Dallas-Fort Worth
- Drone surveys through our partners, feeding AGTEK takeoffs, so the bid starts from the real ground
- A competent person inspecting excavations daily, as federal rules require3
- One self-performing contractor from the first tree to the last density test
Where we work
Texas and Oklahoma, from our base in Dallas. Most of our sites are in Dallas-Fort Worth and the counties around it, and we go where the right project is: the ground is different everywhere, and reading it is the job.
Site preparation questions
What developers and general contractors ask before the first mobilization.
What does site preparation include?
Do you build to TxDOT specifications?
Who handles the floodplain, zoning and drainage design?
Moisture conditioning or chemical injection?
Do you work outside Dallas-Fort Worth?
How do you measure the dirt?
What should I send for a proposal?
Sources
Every number and every rule on this page is cited here. Reviewed September 30, 2026.
- Stormwater General Permit for Construction Activities (TPDES General Permit TXR150000)Texas Commission on Environmental Quality, 2023Coverage for construction disturbing one or more acres, and the SWP3 developed and implemented before construction begins; effective March 5, 2023.
- 2021 International Building Code, Chapter 18: Soils and Foundations (as adopted in Texas)International Code Council, via UpCodes, 2021Section 1803 (the geotechnical investigation and its report) and 1804.6 (compacted fill under shallow foundations complies with the approved geotechnical report).
- 29 CFR 1926.651, Specific Excavation RequirementsOccupational Safety and Health AdministrationLocating underground installations before an excavation is opened (b), and daily inspection by a competent person (k).
- Standard Specifications for Construction and Maintenance of Highways, Streets, and Bridges, adopted September 1, 2024Texas Department of Transportation, 2024The specification governing public work, including Excavation, Embankment and Proof Rolling.
- ASTM D698-12(2021), Standard Test Methods for Laboratory Compaction Characteristics of Soil Using Standard EffortASTM International, 2021The laboratory compaction curve, the relationship between water content and dry unit weight, that field density is tested against.
- Web Soil SurveyUSDA Natural Resources Conservation ServiceSoil data from the National Cooperative Soil Survey, the public starting point for reading a site.
Have a site to prepare?
Send the plans, the report, the address, and the date you need a pad. We will tell you what the site needs, in what order, and how long it will take to go from raw ground to ready to build.