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Trenching Gallery
Real trench and pipe work from across central Illinois.
Searching trenching service Mattoon IL, trenching Champaign IL, or trenching contractors Decatur IL — that's us. Drainage tile lines, French drains, culvert lines, downspout and outlet runs, and water line trenching. Opened on slope, pipe bedded, backfilled, graded smooth.
📞 Call (217) 809-0779 Free EstimateTrenching contractors in Mattoon, IL and across central Illinois — trenching service in Mattoon, Champaign, and Decatur, IL for water lines and drainage — drainage tile lines, French drain trenches, culvert lines, downspout and sump outlet runs, and water service lines. Locates called, trench cut on continuous fall, pipe bedded, backfilled in lifts, surface graded back. Free on-site estimate: (217) 809-0779.
A trench is only as good as its slope. Anybody can open a ditch with a bucket; the job is putting the bottom of that trench on continuous fall from the high end to a real outlet, so water leaves and keeps leaving. That's what we're doing when we trench.
Brohez Trucking LLC handles trenching work across central Illinois — Mattoon, Charleston, Champaign, Decatur, Urbana, and the rural ground in between. Yard drain and downspout runs at the house. French drain trenches around a foundation. Culvert lines under a driveway. Water service and yard hydrant lines below frost. Drainage tile lines out in the field, dug to the outlet elevation the ground actually gives us.
We're an earthwork contractor, and we're straight about the edges of that. This is drainage and water work. We don't chase fiber, telecom, or electrical distribution jobs — that's a different trade with different gear and different rules. What we do is dig, set pipe, backfill, and put the ground back.
The Komatsu PC150LC-6 with trenching buckets handles the long runs and the deep ones — tile mains, culvert lines, water service. The JCB 8040ZTS mini excavator is the one that gets between a house and a fence without wrecking the yard, which is most residential downspout and French drain work. Track loaders move the stone and the backfill; the dump trucks haul the spoils. If the surface needs put back tight afterward, the Cat D6N runs laser grade control. See the full fleet at /equipment/.
We don't lead with how long we've been around — we lead with what gets your trench in right. A Komatsu PC150LC-6 excavator and a Cat D6N dozer with laser grade control to hold the fall and put the surface back tight, 18 five-star reviews, and a same-week, free on-site estimate — call (217) 809-0779.
Most of our trenching is the dig half of a drainage job — so if you're chasing standing water rather than a specific pipe run, start at drainage and field tile repair and we'll work out what the ground needs. One note on tile: we run targeted lines and repairs only. No tile plow, no full pattern-tile installs. If somebody quoted you a whole-field system, that's not our work and we'll say so.
Not sure how deep it has to go, or where the outlet is? Call. We'll come look and shoot it. The estimate is free.
If you searched trenching Mattoon IL, trenching service Champaign IL, or trenching contractors Decatur IL and landed here, you're in the right place — those are all the same search, and it's the same crew and the same machines either way.
Trenching service in Mattoon, IL. This is home. The shop is in Mattoon and most of our Coles County work is same-week — yard drain and downspout runs, culvert lines under a driveway, water service below frost, and tile lines out on the farm ground north and east of town.
Trenching service in Champaign, IL. Champaign, Urbana, Savoy, Mahomet and Rantoul are a straight run up 57 and we're there regularly. Tight residential lots get the JCB 8040ZTS mini so the yard survives the job; the long runs get the Komatsu.
Trenching contractors in Decatur, IL. Decatur and Macon County — utility trenches, drainage lines, footing drains, and outlet runs. Travel is built into the estimate, so a Decatur job is priced the same honest way a Mattoon one is. No surprise mobilization fee.
Full radius is 60 miles out of Mattoon: Charleston, Effingham, Champaign, Urbana, Decatur, Shelbyville, Sullivan, Tuscola, Arcola, Paris, Neoga, Toledo, Casey, Pana and the townships between them. What you get from a local outfit is that we come look at the run before we price it — depth, outlet elevation, and what's already in the ground decide the number, and none of that can be quoted over the phone.
Talk to Levi — the man running the machine, not a call center. Call (217) 809-0779.
Putting in a new service line? We do the utility trenching — the open-cut earthwork that gets your line in the ground at the right depth and back-covered clean. Builders and GCs call this the underground utilities dig: the excavator opens the trench, we bed it, your line drops in, and we backfill and grade it back.
We're an earthwork contractor — not an electrician, plumber, or gas fitter. On any utility line, we open, bed, and backfill the trench; your licensed electrician, plumber, or the utility company makes the actual connection, sets the meter, and pulls the trade permit. We don't join wire, tie in gas, or make plumbing connections, and we don't pull utility permits. Clean split of labor — everybody stays in their lane.
Trenches opened to the depth the job calls for so electrical conduit can go in — service laterals, a sub-panel run out to a shop or barn, yard-light and pump lines. We dig, bed the trench, and backfill after your licensed electrician has laid and connected the conduit and wire.
Open-cut trenching for a gas service line to a house, shop, generator, or grain dryer, dug to the depth the utility or your fitter specs. We move the dirt; the gas utility or your licensed gas fitter makes the connection and pressure-tests the line.
Trenching for a water main or a water service line from the meter, main, or well to the building — dug below frost, bedded, and backfilled clean. Your licensed plumber or the water utility taps the main and makes the connection.
Open-cut trenching for a sewer line or sewer lateral from the building to the tank or the main, held on continuous fall. We dig and backfill; your licensed plumber lays and connects the pipe and handles the inspection.
Locates get called on every one of these before a bucket moves, and we mark the trench line so you can see exactly where it runs. Coordinating a new build or a service upgrade? Call (217) 809-0779 and we'll schedule the dig around your electrician, plumber, or the utility.
Municipal and commercial main work is a bigger job than a service line. If what you're looking at is water main, sanitary sewer or force main, or storm sewer with inlets and manhole structures — on a village project or a general contractor's package — that scope lives on its own page: water & sewer main excavation → Same split as here, bigger pipe and a bid form.
Drainage-side trenching, from a 20-foot downspout run to a tile line across a field.
Targeted tile lines dug to pull a wet spot dry, and repair digs on broken, crushed, or collapsed runs. We locate the break, open the trench, splice or replace, and tie back to the outlet. Repair and targeted lines only — see field tile repair.
Perforated pipe bedded in clean stone, dug on continuous fall to daylight or a sump. Foundation perimeters, retaining wall backs, and soggy yard runs. More on French drain installation.
Driveway and road culvert lines cut to grade, pipe set on a proper bed, backfilled and compacted so the crossing doesn't sink. See culvert installation & repair.
Water service runs from the meter or well to the house, and yard hydrant lines out to a barn or lot. Dug below frost, bedded, backfilled and graded back.
Solid pipe runs that take roof water and sump discharge away from the foundation and out to daylight — the cheapest fix there is for a wet basement wall, and it goes in while we're already trenching.
Water service runs, yard hydrant lines, and livestock waterer lines trenched below frost depth, bedded, and backfilled clean. Step by step: what a water line trench actually involves.
Perimeter drain trenches along the footing while the excavation is still open, tied to a real outlet. Pairs with our foundation excavation work.
Trenching that ties a tile line, basin, or drain into a ditch, creek bank, or grassed waterway outlet — headwall, rodent guard, and bank shaping where it needs it.
Trench backfilled in lifts and compacted, spoils hauled off if there's excess, and the surface bladed smooth and ready to seed. We don't leave you a ridge to mow around.
Same shape every time, scaled to the run.
We come out, walk the run, find where the water has to end up, and write a straight number. Free. No pressure.
JULIE locates called before any digging. We mark the trench line on the ground so you can see exactly where it goes before we start.
We find and confirm the outlet elevation first. The outlet sets the fall, and the fall sets the depth — doing this backwards is how flat spots and reverse grade get built in.
Trench cut to width and depth with the right bucket, held on continuous fall the whole way. Topsoil kept separate from subsoil where the surface has to go back nice.
Pipe laid on a proper bed — clean stone where it calls for it, sock on perforated pipe in silty ground — connections made, and the line checked for fall before anything gets covered.
Backfilled in lifts and compacted, surface restored and bladed smooth. Yards get left ready to seed; field work gets disced back ready for the next pass.
Real trench and pipe work from across central Illinois.
Drainage and water work — drainage tile lines, French drain trenches, culvert lines, downspout and sump outlet runs, and water service lines. We're an earthwork contractor with an excavator and trenching buckets, not a utility contractor; we don't chase fiber, telecom, or electrical distribution work.
Depends on the length of the run, the depth, the ground you're digging through, machine access, and whether there's pipe and stone to set. A short downspout line and a long tile run to a field outlet are different jobs. Free on-site estimate with a straight number — call (217) 809-0779.
Shallow for yard drain and downspout runs. Below frost for water lines. Tile and culvert lines go to whatever depth the outlet elevation demands — the slope decides the depth. The Komatsu PC150LC-6 has the reach for the deep runs; the JCB mini gets into tight yards. Full breakdown by line type: how deep does a trench need to be in Illinois.
Always. JULIE locates get called before any digging, and we mark the trench line so you can see exactly where the work goes before a bucket touches the ground.
The trench line gets disturbed — that's unavoidable. We backfill in lifts, restore the surface, and grade it smooth so grass comes back. Field work gets disced back ready for the next pass.
Yes — targeted tile lines and tile repair. Locate the break, open the trench, splice or replace the run, tie it to a real outlet. We do not install full pattern tile systems — no tile plow, no full-field installs. Targeted lines and repair only.
Yes. Perforated pipe bedded in clean stone, dug on continuous fall to an outlet — foundation perimeters, retaining wall backs, and wet yard runs.
Water lines, yes — service runs and yard hydrant lines, dug below frost, bedded, backfilled and graded back. Septic, no. We don't do septic work of any kind — no tank digs, no laterals, no field lines. That's licensed installer work and we'd rather send you to one than learn on your system.
Komatsu PC150LC-6 with trenching buckets for the main runs, JCB 8040ZTS mini for tight access, Takeuchi TL150 and Cat 259D3 track loaders for stone and backfill, dump trucks for spoils and rock, and the Cat D6N with laser grade control when the surface needs regraded after.
60-mile radius from Mattoon, IL — Charleston, Effingham, Decatur, Champaign, Urbana, Tuscola, Sullivan, Shelbyville, Pana, Terre Haute, and the rural ground in between.
Yes — full liability and equipment coverage on every job. Certificate of insurance available on request.
Yes — the trench, not the hookup. We open, bed, and backfill utility trenches for electrical conduit, gas service lines, water mains and water service lines, and sewer lines. We're an earthwork contractor, not an electrician, plumber, or gas fitter — so your licensed tradesman or the utility lays the line, makes the connection, and pulls the trade permit. We do the digging and the backfill, and we call locates first.
We do the underground-utility trenching — the earthwork. On a new build or a service upgrade we open the trench to depth, bed it, and backfill and grade it back once the line is in. The connection itself — wiring a panel, tying in a gas line, tapping a water main, hooking up a sewer line — is made by your licensed electrician, plumber, or the utility company. We schedule the dig around their crew.
Different jobs. A trench drain (or channel drain) is a surface drain — a long, narrow channel with a grate set flush into a driveway, patio, garage apron, or parking area to catch water running across the top and carry it off. A French drain is a buried perforated pipe in a gravel trench that collects water from under the ground. One handles surface runoff you can see; the other handles subsurface water you can't. We install the surface channel drains for driveways, patios, and aprons, and French drains for foundations and wet yards — see our French drain installation.
Brohez Trucking LLC. The shop is in Mattoon and Coles County is our home ground, so most Mattoon trenching work goes in the same week you call. Drain tile lines, French drain trenches, culvert lines, downspout and sump outlet runs, and water service lines below frost. Free on-site estimate.
Yes. Champaign, Urbana, Savoy, Mahomet and Rantoul are all inside our 60-mile radius and we run up there regularly. Tight residential lots get the JCB 8040ZTS mini excavator so the yard survives the job; long runs and deep lines get the Komatsu PC150LC-6. Locates called before any digging.
Yes — we cover Decatur and Macon County. Utility trenches, drainage and tile lines, footing drains, and outlet runs. Travel is built into the estimate, so a Decatur job gets priced the same way a Mattoon one does with no surprise mobilization fee.
Brohez Trucking LLC runs trenching work across a 60-mile radius from Mattoon, IL — Coles, Cumberland, Douglas, Shelby, Moultrie, Effingham, Edgar, Clark, Champaign, and Macon counties, plus over the line into Vigo County, Indiana. That covers trenching in Charleston, Effingham, Decatur, Champaign, and Urbana as regular route work. Pick your town below for local details, or call (217) 809-0779 for a free estimate.
Call us and we'll come look. No pressure, no obligation — just a straight number.
(217) 809-0779 📞 Call For Free Estimate Send A MessageHours: Monday–Saturday, 7am–7pm · Mattoon, IL · 60-mile service radius