Serving a 50-mile radius of Hammond · based in Hammond, LA
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Aerial view of River Ridge's tree-lined streets along the Mississippi River, with the levee, barges at the bank and the west bank across the water
Service Area

Dirt Work in River Ridge, LA

Serving River Ridge · Jefferson Parish

Dirt Work for River Ridge Homes, Lots and Job Sites

Dirt work in River Ridge happens on land first laid out for sugar plantations. River Ridge is an unincorporated community in Jefferson Parish, a suburb of New Orleans. It counted 13,591 people at the 2020 census. The community runs along a 3-mile stretch of Jefferson Highway, Louisiana Highway 48. Harahan borders it on the east, Kenner on the northwest and Metairie on the north. The Mississippi River forms its southwest edge, and Waggaman sits across the water. By Census estimates, half the homes in River Ridge were built in 1971 or earlier. About seven in ten went up before 1980. When one of those lots gets a new house, the old one has to come down first.

Our base is Hammond, LA, and River Ridge falls inside the 50-mile radius we work. Older houses come down with our demolition work, along with the detached garages and sheds behind them. Old concrete driveways, slabs and patios get broken up and hauled off with concrete removal. Then site preparation turns the cleared lot into a firm, level building pad for the new house. Where the ground sits low, we bring in fill dirt and pack it in lifts. Our machines include a Kubota SVL75-3 tracked skid steer and a Case excavator. We take residential and commercial jobs, and every estimate is free. No job too big or too small.

What We Do in River Ridge

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From sugar plantations to Little Farms to River Ridge

In the late 1700s and early 1800s, sugar plantations lined the river here in French long lots. Each one had a narrow river front and ran deep back from the water. The Trudeau and Sauvé families were among the major landholders. Pierre Sauvé's plantation here was called Providence. River Ridge's major streets still follow the lines of those old lots. Sauve Road is still a main road, and its name and signs drop the accent. In 1849, the crude river levee at Providence gave way under high water. That flood, Sauvé's Crevasse, covered much of the land to the east, parts of New Orleans included.

In the early 1900s, an interurban line linked New Orleans and Kenner along today's Jefferson Highway. Still, the area stayed farmland until after World War II. The Post Office called it Little Farms, and Little Farms Avenue is still a major street. Helped by the G.I. Bill, large-scale building began in the early 1950s. By 1965, nearly all the land along the river between Harahan and Kenner was built up. In 1974, the area was officially renamed River Ridge. Census estimates count 6,325 homes here today. More of them date from the 1960s than from any other decade, 1,698 in all. A house from that decade is more than 55 years old now. A rebuild on its lot usually takes out the old slab and driveway too.

Parish permits and parish drainage in River Ridge

River Ridge sits between two cities, Kenner and Harahan, but it is not one. It is unincorporated, so building permits come from the Jefferson Parish Building Permits Department. The department has permit navigators who see each permit through. Engineering and Floodplain Management are among the parish offices involved in the permitting process. River Ridge is on the East Bank, so start with the department's East Bank office. Louisiana law calls for an 811 notice 48 to 120 hours before digging or demolition, not counting weekends and holidays. Then the house or garage comes down, and we haul the debris off. Old footings and buried debris come out with excavation, down to clean ground for the new pad.

The parish runs the street drainage here too, while Kenner and Harahan keep up their own. The East Bank has 38 pump stations. The parish puts their average pumping capacity at about 0.75 inches of rain per hour. When a storm drops rain faster than that, water stands until the pumps catch up. A low or settled yard holds it the longest. Our part is the yard. We raise the low spots with packed fill, then land grading slopes the yard toward the street. Rain should leave your lot and stay off the one next door.

Communities and areas we serve around River Ridge: Jefferson Highway, Sauve Road, Little Farms Avenue, Little Farms Park, Jesse Owens Park, Harahan, Kenner, Metairie, Waggaman.

River Ridge ZIP codes served: 70123.

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Serving River Ridge and nearby

Free estimates throughout Jefferson Parish and the surrounding area.

(985) 500-4145
Our Services in River Ridge

Every Service We Bring to River Ridge

Dozer pushing into brush at the edge of a pine tree line

Land Clearing

Land clearing for overgrown lots, fence lines and acreage across Southeast Louisiana. We take out the underbrush and small trees, then dig the stumps and root balls out with the excavator.

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Mini excavator lifting a dug-out tree stump and root ball in a backyard

Stump Removal

Stump removal for a single stump, a fence line full of them or a whole lot, around Hammond and across Southeast Louisiana. We dig the stump and root ball out with the excavator, haul it off and backfill the hole.

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Excavator tearing down a house during demolition

Demolition

We take down houses, mobile homes, sheds, barns and small commercial buildings. The debris gets loaded out and hauled off, so the lot is clear when we leave.

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Excavator boom over a pile of demolition debris, seen from the cab, near Hammond, LA

Mobile Home Demolition

We tear down old mobile homes and manufactured homes on site and haul every piece off. Porches, skirting, piers, the steel frame and the axles all go, and the lot is left clean and rough graded.

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Compact excavator digging on a residential property

Excavation

Excavation covers cuts and fills, soft or bad material dug out, and ditches and drainage swales. A Case excavator and a Kubota SVL75-3 skid steer do the work within 50 miles of Hammond.

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Freshly graded dirt pad with a spoil pile and a gravel drive beside a metal building

Fill Dirt

We sell fill dirt and haul it to your property. Loads get dumped where you want them, spread out, and packed down so the ground holds.

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Crushed limestone gravel spread over a sand pad between two silt fences, pines and a house behind

Gravel Driveways

We build new gravel driveways from the subgrade up, with base rock under the top rock. We also re-gravel and regrade older drives that have gone to potholes and soft spots.

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Graded ground along the front of a blue metal building near Hammond, LA

Gravel Roads

We build gravel roads into acreage, hunting land, camps and job sites, with base rock under the surface rock. We also regrade and rebuild worn gravel roads that have gone to potholes, washboard, ruts or soft spots.

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Freshly graded dirt pad in a grass yard beside a metal building

Land Grading

Land grading shapes your ground so water runs off it instead of standing on it. We handle yard leveling and lot grading within a 50 mile radius of Hammond.

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Compacted sand pad with track marks behind a silt fence, pines and houses behind it

Site Prep

We take a lot from raw ground to a pad you can build on. Fill placed and compacted in lifts, rough grade set, and access roughed in for the trucks.

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Skid steer with a breaker attachment breaking out an old concrete driveway

Concrete Removal

We break out old driveways, slabs, patios, sidewalks and footings and haul the pieces off. The ground gets graded smooth or built back up with fill.

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River Ridge FAQ

Questions From River Ridge Property Owners

A few of the questions we hear most around River Ridge. If yours is not here, call or text and ask.

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What drives the cost of dirt work in River Ridge?
Mostly, what leaves the lot and what comes back in. Taking down a 1960s house with its slab, driveway and patio fills far more trucks than one backyard shed. A yard that settled end to end takes more fill than one low corner. Access to the back of the lot and the haul distance move the number too. We look at the site and give a free estimate before any work starts.
Where do I go for permits in River Ridge?
Jefferson Parish, since River Ridge is unincorporated and has no city government. Call the parish Building Permits Department before anything comes down or any fill goes in. Its residential permitting requirements are posted on the parish website. Once you know what your job needs, we plan the work around it.
Do you work in River Ridge from Hammond?
Yes. River Ridge is inside the 50-mile radius around our base in Hammond. We come south on I-55 across the Manchac swamp, then east on I-10. The same route takes us to Harahan next door. We also do dirt work in Kenner to the northwest and dirt work in Metairie to the north. Call or text (985) 500-4145 for a free estimate.
Why does my River Ridge yard hold water after a heavy rain?
The parish designs its major drainage system, which serves River Ridge, for a 10-year storm. A heavier storm can drop rain faster than the system moves it, and low ground drains last. We can raise a low or settled yard with packed fill and slope it toward the street. If your lot is in a special flood hazard area, ask the parish first. Federal rules count filling and grading as development, and all development there needs a permit.
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Get In Touch With J-Rod's Dirt Work

Call or text (985) 500-4145, or send the form and we will get back to you. Tell us the address and what the ground needs, and we will set up a free estimate.

Get a Free Quote

Tell us about the job and the ground. We will get right back to you.

Call (985) 500-4145