Get to know us!

Allegheny Excavating, Inc. is a leading merit shop site contractor serving the Greater Pittsburgh community.  Our seasoned, professional staff ensures projects are completed both on schedule, and on budget.  AEI gets the job done, and we don’t miss deadlines.  Ever.  (Really! It just doesn’t happen.)

What we do

Mass excavation and rock crushing.  That’s our sweet spot.  We’re talking 50,000+ cubic yards; commercial or industrial.  We also provide a host of site surfacing and service options, such as commercial and industrial pad prep, and paving prep within 1/2 inch. (If new to the industry, prep is actually more important than pave!  And end product is compromised if compaction rates are poor.)  Through the past five decades, AEI developed a knack for achieving full compaction rates of 95, 98 or even 100 percent.  Plus, we have excellent relationships with our pavers – many of whom simply arrive on site, fine tune an area, and go!

In terms of residential work, our scope is “everything up to the easements,” including planning and design,  lot/easement layouts, and all underground utilities, both design and install – water, electric, gas, phone, cable and Internet.  This includes sanitary sewere and storm sewer.  *Please note our typical residential development size is no fewer than 50 lots.

Upon site arrival

After mapping, AEI begins site development by mowing for silt sock placement; clearing the property of trees, and recycling/re-purposing those trees (with assistance from loggers); and collecting top soil for final application.  This is what’s known as a top soil strip and stockpile, as excavators don’t use top soil as a base.  (Top soils compress too much, and do not return optimal compaction rates.)

Next, we start major dirt work, which begins with utilities slotting.  We’ll grade to specification, proceed with storm and sanitary sewer installation, and continue working bottom up.  Gas, electric and water lines are trenched, added and then back-filled.  With utilities settled, we’ll slot the road, undercutting and filling with compaction materials, and finally fine grading as we prep for pave.  Throughout a project, we’ll be crushing rock and cutting limestone, and doing so until we get below sub-grade.  And if a client has any questions about the process, we’re always available.

AEI can also complement a project with full landscaping.  For example, at our  Cranberry Crossroads site, AEI installed everything from dirt to grass, making for an ideal commercial site development.  We installed a 200,000+ sq. ft. pad, planted more than 300 trees (and even more bushes), and continued with seeding, decorative rock formations and decorative ponds – part of our large-scale, stone/water work.

As ownership is both readily accessible and personally involved in each job, AEI has added capacity for detailed site personalization.  For example, we can even hand cut church alters, should such touches be requested by the client.  And because our team has true community vision, we’ll ensure our details are congruent with adjacent property design.

Upon site departure

Realizing exact contours and grades gives AEI a sense of pride.  Therefore, when we leave a site, 98 percent of the time the job is perfect.  (There’s not many call backs.)  However, we do grade specifically to engineer drawings, and occasionally, such third-party specs are erroneous.  That’s why we prefer working with detail-oriented firms like Sewickley’s PVE Sheffler, because we know PVE to be equally thorough as AEI.

Should questions or issues arise throughout site development, please don’t hesitate to call!  At AEI, our employees are known for their approachability just as much as their craftsmanship. 

Clients recommend AEI for its:

> Exceptional familiarity with local soil conditions, and landscape restoration know-how (with minimal environmental impact).

> Established rapport with Department of Environmental Protection and municipalities.

> Cost efficient, competitive pricing.  Allegheny Excavating is a non-union shop.

> As-built, geographically correct, complete drawings of site development work

> Routine collaborations with utility companies, which facilitates quick installation.