Interstate frontage becomes sellable only after someone has graded it, drained it and put water, sewer and storm lines beneath it, and that is the work we do in Johnstown. The Ridge at Johnstown, a 265-acre master-planned mixed-use site, offers 90 acres of I-25 frontage with access through the Highway 402 interchange and about 100,000 vehicles per day of freeway visibility, and 122 acres had been sold to residential developers.
A 2022 report described a separate Highway 60 and I-25 project planned for more than 1,000 housing units and more than 1 million square feet of retail, at an interchange passing more than 99,000 vehicles daily. Housing and retail want the same thing first: streets and utilities in the ground ahead of vertical construction. Infrastructure is one package, and the sooner it is priced as one, the fewer surprises appear in the pad sites later.
We coordinate trade partners for earthwork, underground utilities and site concrete for developers and builders on sites like these, and we hand pads over with compaction reports, survey checks and a record of what is buried where.
State Highway 56 is 9.5 miles long and runs from US 287 in Berthoud east to I-25 exit 250 and US 87 in Johnstown. For a contractor it is a haul route, a utility corridor and an access point, and it carries the same traffic that serves new subdivisions on its way to the interstate. We time heavy deliveries away from commute hours and keep the roadway clean.
Johnstown is a home rule municipality in Weld and Larimer counties at about 4,994 feet, and its population grew from 9,887 in 2010 to 17,303 in 2020. That kind of growth strains water, sewer and storm capacity first, and owners who understand it early plan their main extensions, lift stations and detention before the rooftops arrive.
The highway frontage also changes how a contractor works. With a freeway interchange next door, owners and prospective tenants see the site every day, and a muddy track-out or an open trench on a frontage road is noticed. We keep entrances stabilized, water the haul roads and sequence trenching so that open ground is limited to what the crew can close in a day.
The sequence for land-development infrastructure begins with stripping and stockpiling topsoil, then mass grading to the plan elevations, then utility mains, and only then the street subgrade, curb and gutter and paving base. Reversing any step costs money, such as cutting a freshly compacted street to install a missed sleeve.
Detention and water quality features are built early because they serve as sediment basins during construction. We handle storm drain installation together with the grading so inlets, pipes and outfalls meet the finished surface, and we survey invert elevations before backfill to protect the flow lines.
The largest variable in an earthwork bid is the cut and fill balance. A site that balances needs no import or export, while a site that does not requires trucking, and haul distance becomes the biggest unit cost. We look at cut and fill earthwork volumes first and tell the owner where small grade changes could save thousands of cubic yards of hauling.
For homebuilders and multifamily developers, cost drivers also include utility depth, the number of services stubbed to each lot and how many phases the plan is divided into. Phases that follow the utility sequence keep crews and equipment working continuously and avoid repeated mobilization.
Retail frontage along the interchange depends on pads ready on the date a tenant's contractor arrives. Building pad preparation for us means removing unsuitable material, placing engineered fill in tested lifts, proof-rolling and grading to a tolerance the footing crew can use without further cutting.
The site around a retail shopping center has its own list: entrance aprons built for truck turns, pavement thick enough for delivery vehicles and trash enclosures that do not interfere with fire lanes. We review those items with the owner before the pad is released, not after.
Johnstown sits about ten miles from Greeley, to the east-northeast, and about nine miles from Loveland, to the northwest. Crews and equipment can move between Greeley and Loveland work without long mobilization, which helps owners who hold parcels across the region.
Whether the project is a graded commercial pad, a residential phase or an industrial site, we start the same way: a review of the plans, the geotechnical report and the schedule, followed by a written scope that lists what is included and what is not. Owners tell us that clarity at that stage is what keeps change orders small.
Our proposals show quantities for stripping, cut, fill, pipe by size, structures and concrete, with unit rates that can be applied if the field conditions change. A developer comparing two bids can then see where the difference lies, and a lender or a municipality reviewing the budget can follow the numbers to their source.
Tell us the acreage, the utilities and the phases you intend to build. We will provide a priced scope, a haul plan and a schedule that follows your utility sequence.
Usually the detention and storm system, then the mass grading and the utility mains. Detention serves as a sediment basin during construction and protects the site from runoff. Building pads and paving follow after the underground work is inspected. We help owners keep that order, since reversing it often means cutting new pavement.
We price the base case from available borings and state the unit rates for over-excavation, import and export if the soils differ. The geotechnical report is the best source, and we ask the owner to share it before bid. If the report is not available, we recommend a limited investigation, since a few borings cost far less than a surprise.
Yes. We deliver lots or pads with survey checks and compaction reports so each builder can start without a re-test. Utility stubs and sleeves are marked and recorded. If the plan has phases, we sequence our work so the next phase is ready as the previous one finishes.
We plan delivery times away from commute periods and use designated entrances. The trucks are loaded to legal weights, tires are cleaned before leaving the site and a sweeper is available on the road. If a delivery involves a wide load, we coordinate permits in advance.
Yes. Curb and gutter, sidewalks, accessible ramps and concrete pavement are placed after the underground work is accepted and the subgrade is proof-rolled. Having one contractor do both reduces the gaps between utility trenches and finished surfaces, where settlement often shows up.