Streets, sidewalks and the pipes beneath them are the first things a growing town asks for, and Berthoud is growing: from 10,332 residents in 2020 to an estimated 14,080 in 2025. We build that kind of public and private infrastructure here, from water and sewer mains to sidewalks and street concrete, and we sequence it so a new neighborhood's utilities are tested and accepted before the first lot is paved.
Berthoud sits at 5,033 feet about 21 miles south of Fort Collins and 43 miles north of Denver, on 13.1 square miles in Larimer and Weld counties north of the Little Thompson River. Its early economy was farming, including alfalfa, sugar beets and wheat, and that history matters to a contractor, because farm ground means irrigation ditches, laterals and old headgates crossing land that now carries houses.
Those crossings are part of what we price. We locate the ditch easements, work inside the window the ditch owner allows, and build culverts or siphons to the owner's standard. Surprises with irrigation water are among the most common causes of delay on former farm land, and the cure is to ask about them in week one.
US 287 was rerouted in 2007 onto a bypass north and west of downtown Berthoud, which moved through traffic off Mountain Avenue. For a contractor that matters twice: the bypass is the natural truck route, and downtown streets are a place we avoid with heavy loads. We plan mixer and dump-truck routes to stay on the bypass and use the town's collector streets only for the final leg.
State Highway 56 runs 9.5 miles from US 287 in Berthoud east to I-25 exit 250 in Johnstown, and it is the town's link to the interstate. Deliveries of pipe, aggregate and ready-mix concentrate on it, so we coordinate timing with other contractors and keep trucks clean to protect the roadway. In irrigation season, we schedule ditch crossings around the water, not against it.
A residential or commercial phase typically begins with water main installation and sanitary sewer installation, both tested and inspected before the street subgrade is finished. We stage pipe along the route, excavate in lengths we can close the same day and compact bedding and backfill to the engineer's specification, with test results recorded.
After the underground is accepted, we place curb, gutter and sidewalks and flatwork, including accessible ramps at every crossing. Residential sidewalks fail most often at the transition between the sidewalk and the driveway, so we form those with care, set the slope to drain away from the house and cure the concrete properly before it sees construction traffic.
Commercial building codes in Colorado are adopted city by city and county by county, not as one statewide code. Berthoud lies in both Larimer and Weld counties, so a parcel's jurisdiction decides which department reviews the plans. Unincorporated Weld County adopted the 2024 International Building Code effective June 15, 2026, with engineered foundation designs required for most new structures, while inside the town limits the town's own adopted edition applies.
We never assume the answer. Before pricing we ask which jurisdiction holds the parcel, what the foundation requirement is and whether a geotechnical report has been done. For a site that needs engineered foundations, we review pier or footing alternatives with the engineer so the design does not become a procurement delay.
Berthoud is a convenient base for work between Fort Collins and the I-25 corridor to the south. A crew can complete a utility package in town and move to a project in Loveland without a long mobilization, which helps owners who want one contractor for several phases or sites.
Because the town is surrounded by open land, many projects here start as bare ground. For those, our first visit is a walk of the site with the plans: where the soils change, where water collects, where an existing ditch or overhead line limits access. That walk usually shapes the grading plan more than any drawing does.
Owners with a farming background often need concrete and earthwork that serve both agricultural and residential uses, such as equipment pads, shop floors and access drives. We work with agriculture and dairy owners on slabs that carry tractors and feed trucks and on drainage that keeps yards dry.
Ditch crossings are often built as culverts and headwalls to the ditch owner's size and invert. We coordinate those with the ditch company, schedule them for the time the ditch is dry and document them so the owner and the town have a record of what was built.
Former farm sites hold hazards that new subdivisions inherit: overhead lines at field edges, buried irrigation pipe and shallow groundwater beside ditches. We call for locates, pothole before excavating and use utility relocation when a line has to move, coordinated with the owner of the line, not around them.
Trenches are sloped or shored as required, and daily inspections are recorded. A competent person is on site whenever the crew is in a trench, and the plan for rescue, access and traffic is posted before work starts. These routines are not exciting, but they are the reason a utility package finishes without incident.
Send the parcel number, the plan set and the schedule you want to meet. We will confirm the jurisdiction, list the ditch and utility conflicts we see and return a priced sequence.
It depends on whether the parcel is inside town limits or in unincorporated county land, and on which county. Because Berthoud touches both Larimer and Weld counties, we ask for the parcel number and confirm with the relevant department before pricing. The adopted code edition and foundation requirement can differ.
We identify the ditch company and its easement width first, then plan any crossing for the dry season if possible. The crossing is built to the owner's standard, usually a culvert or similar structure, and the owner inspects it. We also keep spoil and equipment out of the easement.
Most deliveries use the US 287 bypass and State Highway 56, and we avoid downtown streets with heavy loads. On residential streets we limit the number of trucks at a time, watch for school bus times and keep the road clean. If weight limits apply, we load to the posted limit.
Water, sanitary sewer and storm drain, with services stubbed to each lot, followed by street subgrade, curb, gutter and sidewalk. Each pipe system is tested and inspected before backfill is final. We provide as-built information so the owner and the town have a record of depth and location.
Yes. Equipment pads, shop floors, feed areas and drive aprons all fall within our scope. We choose joint spacing and thickness for the vehicles that will use the slab and detail drainage so water leaves the pad. Agricultural owners often value a floor that tolerates chemicals and wear.