Concrete and Earthwork for Ranch, Farm and Dairy Owners

Irrigation water behind Alcova Dam is the reason a lot of ground along the North Platte grows anything at all: the reservoir holds 184,405 acre-feet, with 30,606 acre-feet usable for irrigation. Agricultural owners in Natrona and Converse counties work in country where water is managed, distances are long and a winter can close a road. When they build concrete and earthwork for animals, feed, equipment or water, they need a contractor who understands scale and weather. We build feed pads, pen and lane slabs, ponds, culverts and the dirt work that goes with them.

Farm and dairy owners buy differently from developers. They pay out of operating income, they build in the gaps between seasons and they expect the work to last through hard use by animals and heavy equipment. A bid has to say what the slab is made of, what it sits on and how it drains. We write bids that way, with quantities, a sequence and a weather plan.

Concrete that animals and equipment will not wear out

Floors in an animal facility fail three ways: abrasion, chemical attack and poor drainage. Manure, feed acids and wash water eat at concrete surface, and tractors with loaders scrape the top off a soft finish. A proper slab uses a lower water-cement mix, a steel trowel or broom finish selected for traction, sealed joints and a slope to a collection point. Parlor floors and holding areas get more detail than feed lanes.

Liquid handling needs its own design. Lagoons, basins and transfer channels hold waste and runoff, and the owner's engineer and the regulator decide the lining and volume. Our job is to build to the design and keep a record. Our pages on containment pads and secondary containment and pond and basin excavation explain how we form, line and compact.

Pads, lanes, bunkers and water control

The common work for a livestock or dairy owner includes feed bunkers with concrete walls and floors, silage pads, holding pens, alley slabs, equipment sheds on thick slabs and approach aprons where trucks turn. Each needs a graded base and drainage that moves liquid away from the animals and toward a safe outlet. Where the farm crosses a ditch or drainage swale, culverts and headwalls keep roads and lanes passable.

Processing buildings belong in the same conversation. A creamery, a packing shed or a feed mill calls for a washdown slab, floor drains and cold-weather considerations, which we discuss under food and beverage processing. The earthwork under them is the same as for any heavy building: stripped, proof-rolled and compacted.

Agricultural permits and local review

Agricultural work often sits outside city limits. That moves permits to the county or to state agencies, and building codes in Wyoming are adopted and enforced locally, which means some farm buildings have a lighter review than a city commercial job. Water and waste facilities may need approvals from environmental agencies regardless of where the property sits.

Casper's published climate criteria list a three foot frost line and severe weathering. Other communities set their own, and Converse County covers 4,265 square miles, so conditions vary between a town on the interstate and a ranch up a county road. We ask the local office for the design criteria before pricing footings and slabs.

Bidding for owners who watch every dollar

We itemize a farm project so the owner can pick: pad only, pad with curb, pad with roof footings. Gravel and concrete costs are shown separately, so an owner can substitute a gravel pad where it makes sense and keep the concrete where animals and equipment demand it.

We also check what the owner can do. A rancher with a loader and a blade may be able to strip topsoil, haul fill or place some base material, and we are glad to work around that. Splitting the scope this way often cuts the cost without lowering the quality of the part that matters, the finished concrete.

Working around calving, harvest and the fair

The agricultural calendar sets the schedule. Feeding, calving, shearing, haying and harvest all take people and equipment off a farm for weeks at a time. The Wyoming State Fair is held each August in Douglas, and livestock people spend time there. We schedule construction traffic to keep pens accessible during busy weeks.

Concrete work wants the calendar to cooperate too. Spring thaw softens lanes, summer wind dries a slab fast and fall can bring a hard freeze early. For a pad that must carry animals by the first snow, we count backward from freeze-up and tell the owner which weeks are safe to pour.

Neighbors in the rural economy

Rural owners do business with others in the region. Hay, grain and fertilizer move by rail and truck, which links agriculture to logistics and warehouse developers who build storage and loadout. Food processors that buy local product share concerns with industrial and manufacturing owners, from washdown floors to boiler pads.

Water and power are shared too. Pumps, wells and irrigation systems depend on utilities, and the reservoir area near Alcova shows how a public water project shapes the irrigation around it. In Douglas, the county seat of Converse County, the same highway corridor serves ranchers, shops and the fairgrounds.

Tell us what the animals and equipment need

Send the layout, the load and the date it has to work. We will return a priced sequence and tell you where gravel can replace concrete.

Questions Owners Ask

What mix and finish should a feed or alley slab have?

A durable, low water-cement mix with air entrainment for freeze-thaw, reinforcement to match the load and a broom or textured finish for footing. The engineer sets the numbers. We have the plant batch to that mix and check slump and air at the truck.

Can you build a lagoon or basin?

We excavate, shape, compact and prepare the subgrade for basins and lagoons to the engineer's drawing. Liners, if required, are installed by the right specialist, and we coordinate on subgrade smoothness and perimeter trenches. Testing and record keeping are part of our scope.

Do you work in remote locations?

Yes. Distance adds mobilization, fuel and standby, and we show those as lines in the bid. We also plan for concrete haul time, which can limit how far a truck can travel before the mix starts to set.

Is a gravel pad ever better than concrete?

Sometimes. For equipment storage and light vehicle areas, a well-compacted gravel pad can serve for less money. For animals, wash areas and anything that sees manure or chemicals, concrete lasts longer and cleans better.

What frost depth should I assume at a rural site?

Assume nothing, and ask the county. Casper lists three feet, but other places in Wyoming set depths from 34 inches to 54 inches or more. The local office's number controls, and the footing must go below it.

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