Grassed waterway construction and rebuild, terraces, water-and-sediment control basins, grade-stabilization. We work to the stake and stay on the spec — across the 60-mile radius from Mattoon.
(217) 809-0779 📞 Free EstimateCentral Illinois farms lose ground to water every year — gully erosion in the field, headcuts that march back toward the headwaters, sheet erosion that strips topsoil two storms at a time. A properly built grassed waterway is the standard NRCS answer to that problem, and a properly built one is shallow, wide, on grade, and seeded so the grass takes hold before the next big rain.
We build grassed waterways to NRCS practice 412 spec across central Illinois. We've worked alongside the technicians at Coles, Moultrie, Shelby, Cumberland, Effingham, Douglas, and Edgar SWCD offices on EQIP and CSP cost-share jobs. We know what the cross-section is supposed to look like, we know what the outlet has to handle, and we know what gets you a passing inspection.
If you're a farmer or landowner Googling "grassed waterway contractor Illinois" and getting nothing useful — you found us. Call (217) 809-0779 and walk it with me.
New construction and rebuild. Shallow, wide, on grade — cut to the spec'd cross-section, shaped with the dozer, finished smooth so the seedbed takes. We don't cut a tile ditch and call it a waterway.
Small earthen embankments across ephemeral gullies, with a stable underground outlet or spillway. Compact lifts, real keying, and a spillway that survives a 25-year storm.
Broad-base, narrow-base, and parallel terrace construction and rebuild. Cat D6N for shaping the channel and the ridge, excavator for the inlet and outlet tie-ins.
Drop structures, pipe outlet drops, and headcut repair. Rebuild the elevation that's failed and stop the erosion from working its way upstream.
Got an existing waterway that's silting in, growing weeds in the wrong shape, or losing the outlet? We re-cut the cross-section, fix the grade, repair headcuts, and reseed.
Surface-water tie-ins, riser inlets, French drain outlet protection, and pattern-tile coordination so your waterway and your drainage system aren't fighting each other.
We serve a 60-mile radius from Mattoon — that covers most of east-central Illinois farm country. Counties we regularly run NRCS jobs in:
Don't see your county? Call and ask — if it's within driving distance of Mattoon we'll usually take a look.
Yes. We work to the stake, the cross-section, and the elevations the NRCS technician sets. Standard practice 412. We've got the equipment to cut shallow-and-wide the way a grassed waterway has to be shaped — not deep-and-narrow like a tile ditch.
Yes. We coordinate with your county NRCS technician or Soil and Water Conservation District office, work to their plan, and stay on spec for cost-share approval. We've worked alongside Coles, Moultrie, Shelby, Effingham, Cumberland, Douglas, and Edgar county NRCS contacts.
Yes. EQIP and CSP cost-share grassed waterways, WASCOBs (practice 638), terraces (practice 600), and grade-stabilization structures (practice 410). Clean billing, documented work, and the spec doesn't get blown.
Yes. Re-cut the cross-section, re-establish the grade, fix headcuts, and reseed. Old waterway, new performance.
A water-and-sediment control basin — a small earthen embankment with a stable underground outlet or spillway across an ephemeral gully. NRCS practice 638. Yes — we've got the dozer, the excavator, and the dump trucks to move the dirt and build the embankment in lifts.
Yes. Terrace construction (practice 600) and rebuild — broad-base, narrow-base, parallel terraces, and underground outlet tie-ins. Cat D6N for shaping, excavator for the inlet and outlet structures.
After harvest through late fall is typical, or in spring before planting once the ground is workable. Dry conditions matter — you want the cut and fill to compact, and enough growing season left for the seed to take before runoff hits.
Depends on the linear footage, cut-and-fill volume, the structures involved, and how much topsoil work the spec calls for. Most of our farm customers are running cost-share, which changes the math significantly. Best answer is a walk-it visit — call (217) 809-0779.
60-mile radius from Mattoon, IL — Coles, Moultrie, Shelby, Cumberland, Effingham, Douglas, Edgar, Champaign, Macon, and Christian counties. Decatur, Champaign, Effingham, Charleston, Urbana, Sullivan, Tuscola, Shelbyville, Pana, and Terre Haute.
Walk the field with me. Bring your NRCS plan if you've got one. We'll tell you what the job actually takes.
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