Drainage, Detention Ponds & Culverts in Rapid City, SD

Drainage and stormwater work we do

From a wet backyard to an engineered stormwater basin for a commercial site:

• Detention ponds — engineered basins that hold and meter out storm flow
• Retention ponds — permanent-pool basins, plus stock and livestock ponds on ag ground
• Culvert installation and replacement — driveway, road, and field crossings sized for actual flow
• Headwalls and end sections — protecting culvert ends from scour and washout
• Catch basins and storm inlets — collecting surface water and tying into storm systems
• French drain systems — perforated pipe in clean rock and fabric to intercept subsurface water
• Foundation and footing drains — keeping groundwater away from basements and crawlspaces
• Ditching and shoulder work — reshaping roadside ditches to carry water instead of ponding it
• Erosion control and rip rap — armoring channels, outfalls, and slopes against washout

French drains, footing drains, and wet yards

Surface grading handles surface water. It does nothing for water already moving through the soil, and on a Black Hills lot cut into a slope, that subsurface flow is often the real problem — it shows up as a permanently soggy yard, a wet basement wall, or water pushing under a slab.

A French drain intercepts it: a trench cut on grade, lined with filter fabric, perforated pipe bedded in clean washed rock, and the whole assembly wrapped so it does not silt shut. Done right, with real fall to a legitimate discharge point, it works for decades. Done with the wrong rock, no fabric, or no slope, it clogs in two years — which is why so many homeowners think French drains do not work.