South of Rapid City, the Black Hills give way to the dry, open country of Custer and Fall River counties: Buffalo Gap and Fairburn along the edge of the Hills, the Angostura Reservoir on the Cheyenne River, irrigated fields around Oral, and grass and breaks out toward Oelrichs, Provo and Edgemont, much of it in Buffalo Gap National Grassland. Rain is scarce here, and stock dams and dugouts have to hold every bit of runoff they catch.
Black River Contracting brings its Cat 324E with a 60-foot long-reach front out to Buffalo Gap, Oral, Oelrichs and Edgemont, and does the dirt work that keeps that water working, from our yard in Summerset.
Long-reach work from Buffalo Gap to Edgemont
- Stock dam and dugout cleanout, dug back to depth from the bank with a long-reach excavator. See stock pond and dugout cleanout.
- New stock dams and dugouts, laid out with you and built to hold water. See pond construction.
- Dam repair: leaks, seeps, trampled crests and washed-out spillways. See dam repair and cleanout.
- Irrigation ditches and culverts cleaned out around Oral and Smithwick. See ditch and culvert cleanout.
- Creek and river banks shaped and armored with riprap. See creek, stream bank and riprap work.
- Ranch roads and approaches with culverts that carry the water under them.
Towns we cover
- Hermosa, Fairburn and Buffalo Gap along the eastern edge of the Hills
- Pringle in Custer County
- Oral, Smithwick and Angostura around the reservoir and the irrigated land below it
- Maverick Junction, Oelrichs and the ranch country south of Hot Springs
- Edgemont, Provo and Dudley along the Cheyenne River and the southwest corner of the state
How a ranch job goes
We talk through the work first, with photos if you have them. Then we come out, walk it with you, and give you a number for the whole trip. Utility locates get called in before we dig.
Related
- Long reach excavation in Hot Springs
- Building a stock pond in Western South Dakota
- Farm and ranch improvements
