Excavation and land clearing in South Portland, Maine.
Open land is scarce in South Portland. The comprehensive plan's land use table counts about 665 acres as undeveloped, just over ten percent of the city, next to roughly 1,783 acres of single-family housing and 1,618 of industrial use. Most excavation here is infill: a foundation on a leftover lot, an addition, a drainage trench behind an older house, or site work on a commercial parcel near the Maine Mall.
We run our own equipment for land clearing, foundation and site excavation, drainage trenching, and retention pond mowing and trenching on commercial properties.
What the digging finds
The plan describes three conditions that turn up in the same city. Much of it is Presumpscot Formation silty clay, which stands in a cut when dry and turns slick and unstable when wet. Along the coast there are numerous areas of fill left by industry and shipping. And bedrock outcrops are relatively abundant, with much of the shoreline on exposed or near-surface rock and a thin cover of sediment over large parts of the city. A test pit or two before pricing a foundation hole here is time well spent.
Low ground adds another variable. The waterfront and marsh areas sit between zero and ten feet of elevation, so groundwater and tide can both show up in a deep excavation near the harbor.
Permits and erosion control before clearing
Work that disturbs ground in South Portland can trigger several city reviews. New development leaving 2,000 square feet or more of unpaved disturbed soil needs a soil quality permit, work in the street needs an excavation permit from Code Enforcement, and the Shoreland Area Overlay covers 250 feet from coastal wetlands and 75 feet from the city's protected streams. There is also one significant vernal pool, southeast of Highland and Fickett Streets, where state law regulates activity within 250 feet.
Under its 2022 stormwater permit, the city adopted erosion and sediment control requirements for construction sites. Silt fence, stabilized entrances and quick cover on stockpiles are standard on our sites. Smaller projects under an acre also fall under the city's Stormwater Management Performance Standards, adopted in 2009 as a guide for new development and redevelopment of that size, and runoff from many sites heads for Long Creek, Barberry Creek or Trout Brook, which the city lists as impaired.
Land Clearing · Site Work · Trenching
How we handle excavation & land clearing
We run our own excavation equipment, which means one crew takes your project from raw ground to ready: land clearing, foundation and site excavation, drainage trenching, and retention pond mowing and trenching for commercial properties.
See the full excavation & land clearing service page or everything we do in South Portland, Maine.
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Free Estimates
Excavation & Land Clearing in South Portland? Let's talk.
Tell us about your property and we will walk it with you — free estimates, straight answers, stonework guaranteed to hold its lines.
Mon–Sat 7:00am – 5:00pm · Based in Cumberland, Maine