Clearing, grading and pad work for landowners and builders off Wellborn Road, along Greens Prairie Road and William D. Fitch Parkway, and across the south Brazos County acreage toward Millican.
35+ Years
Combined crew experience — working since 2016
Licensed
& Insured
Free
On-site estimates
College Station is best known for Texas A&M, Kyle Field and the Bush Library, but the ground just outside the city tells a different story. South of Rock Prairie Road and William D. Fitch Parkway, the Post Oak Savannah takes over: post oak, elm and thick yaupon understory on sandy topsoil, with a dense clay subsoil sitting a few inches below. Lick Creek, Alum Creek and Peach Creek South wind toward the Navasota River, and Carters Creek traces much of the city’s eastern edge.
That combination is why landowners call land clearing contractors in College Station before they ever call a builder. With the city projecting up to 156,000 residents by 2030, new homes are filling in around Castlegate, Midtown and Southern Pointe, while buyers looking for room are picking up 5-, 10- and 20-acre tracts off Wellborn Road and FM 159 toward Millican. Most of that land needs yaupon and post oak cleared, a pad built on reactive claypan, and a driveway that will not wash out across a ditch.
3H Construction has been doing that work since 2016 from our yard in Richards, about 30 miles east in Grimes County. We bring our own equipment to College Station and the surrounding Brazos County acreage, and the same crew that clears your land can grade it, build the pad, dig the pond and put up the pipe fence.
3H Construction offers its full range of land clearing services in College Station and throughout Brazos County, from a single residential lot near Pebble Creek to raw acreage south of Greens Prairie Road. One crew, our own equipment, and every step from first cut to finished fence.
Most College Station-area lots come with a tangle of yaupon under post oak and elm, and on unmanaged land that canopy closes in fast. We clear trees, brush and cedar from building sites and acreage off Wellborn Road, Greens Prairie Road and the rural roads toward Millican, taking out root systems so the ground is ready for grading. We do not do forestry mulching — we clear the land for whatever comes next.
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Brazos County’s upland claypan soils shrink and swell with moisture, which is why poor grading here shows up later as foundation cracks and standing water. Our excavation services in College Station cover rough grading, cut and fill, site leveling and final grading, with drainage planned around the creeks that cross the south side of town. Residential, agricultural and light commercial.
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Builders working the south side of College Station need ground that is cleared, stripped, compacted and reachable by a concrete truck. We handle site work from clearing through subgrade compaction and rough access, so your builder starts on a site that is ready, not one they have to fight. We coordinate directly with your builder, whether the lot is near Fitch Parkway or out on county roads past the city limits.
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A building pad on Brazos County clay has to be built in compacted lifts, or the slab will move when the soil does. We set the target elevation, cut high spots, bring in fill for low ones and compact to your builder’s or engineer’s spec — and if your lender wants compaction testing, we build the pad to pass it. Typical single-family pads take one to three days once the weather cooperates.
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Farm ponds and stock tanks are a fixture on Brazos County acreage, and the clay subsoils south of College Station often hold water well. We assess the soil and natural drainage first, then excavate and shape the basin, build berms from the spoil, and set an overflow so heavy spring rain does not cut the dam. Livestock, irrigation, fishing or simply a better view from the house — we will tell you honestly if your site can support one.
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From an aging farmhouse on family land near Wellborn to a barn that has outlived its use, we tear down residential and light commercial structures and clear the site behind them. We plan utilities, debris and what happens next before the first wall comes down. Inside city limits or the ETJ, check with the City of College Station or Brazos County first — we will tell you what we see at the estimate.
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Rural lots on county roads like Straub Road or along FM 159 toward Millican usually need a culvert where the driveway crosses the bar ditch. We size and bed culverts for the water they actually carry, then build the gravel drive on a properly prepared base so it does not rut out after the first wet winter. If your driveway connects to a state highway, a TxDOT driveway permit applies.
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Fencing is where 3H started, and we still build pipe fence the way it should be built for cattle, horses and long Texas summers. Around College Station that is often perimeter and cross-fencing on new acreage, plus a graded gate entrance at the road. Because we also do the clearing and driveway, one crew can get a south Brazos County property fence-ready and fenced.
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The land around College Station sits on upland claypan soils — the Zack, Boonville, Burlewash and Singleton series in the federal soil survey — with sandy topsoil over clay that barely drains and swells hard when wet. On the stream terraces along Carters, Lick and Peach creeks, the soil can hold a perched water table from November into March. We plan clearing, pads and ponds around both: when to work, how deep to cut, and how to compact so the ground stays put.
We know the roads that define this side of Brazos County. Much of our College Station-area work sits along the city’s south and southwest growth corridors — Wellborn Road (FM 2154), William D. Fitch Parkway, Rock Prairie Road and Greens Prairie Road — with SH 6 and Earl Rudder Freeway tying it together. Out past the city limits, that means acreage near Millican off FM 159, the rural subdivisions along I&GN, Straub and Stousland roads, and the larger estate lots around Foxfire and Wellborn.
The work here follows the growth. New neighborhoods around Castlegate, Midtown and the former Texas World Speedway site at Southern Pointe have pushed families to look a little further out for land, and because the city does not plan to run sewer deeper into its ETJ, those rural lots need room for septic, a pad and a driveway. That is the kind of property 3H prepares: raw post oak acreage turned into a buildable homesite.
We also know where the rules are. Inside College Station, any grading or filling in a mapped floodplain needs a city Development Permit — and fill alone does not take land out of the floodplain. Outside city limits, Brazos County Road & Bridge handles floodplain permits, the Brazos County Health District handles septic permits, and the county issues burn bans during dry spells that affect how cleared brush can be handled. Near sensitive ground like Lick Creek Park, home to the endangered Navasota ladies’-tresses orchid, we keep disturbance to the work zone.
Why Choose Us
Claypan soil is the difference between a pad that holds and a slab that cracks. We have spent a decade working the same kind of ground found south of College Station, and we plan every clearing, pad and pond around it.
Land clearing, grading, pads, ponds, driveways, culverts and pipe fence — College Station landowners can hand the whole property to one crew instead of scheduling three contractors and hoping they line up.
We bring our own machines and do every job ourselves. Owner Ricky Haynie stays directly involved from the walkthrough to the final pass.
If a job will be harder than it looks, or the land is not right for your plan, we tell you at the estimate — not halfway through. No overselling, no surprise change orders.
We walk the property before we quote, because terrain and soil drive the price. Call or text (979) 571-8110, Monday through Saturday, 7 AM to 6 PM.
As land clearing contractors in College Station, we cover the whole city, its ETJ and the Brazos County acreage around it. From our base in Richards, we also serve the surrounding Brazos Valley and Grimes County communities below.
It depends on acreage, how thick the yaupon and post oak are, the size of the trees and root systems, and what you want done with the debris. A lightly wooded lot near town is a very different job from overgrown acreage south of Greens Prairie Road. We walk every property before quoting so you get a real number, not a per-acre guess. Estimates are free.
If the work is in a mapped floodplain inside city limits, yes — College Station requires a Development Permit for any grading or filling there, and adding fill does not remove land from the floodplain. In the ETJ and unincorporated Brazos County, floodplain permits come from Brazos County Road & Bridge, and septic permits from the Brazos County Health District. Requirements change with location and project size, so check with the city or county before work starts; we will flag anything we see at the estimate.
Cost depends on the pond’s size and depth, the soil, and whether you need a dam, berms or overflow work. Depth follows purpose: a stock tank needs enough volume to carry livestock through a dry Brazos Valley summer, while a fishing pond benefits from deeper water to support fish and limit weeds. The clay subsoils common south of College Station often hold water well, but we test each site before we recommend digging.
Yes — it just has to be done right. The claypan soils around College Station swell when wet and shrink when dry, so we build pads in compacted lifts with suitable fill and grade them to shed water. If your builder, engineer or lender requires compaction testing, we build to that spec. Most single-family pads take one to three days once the ground is dry enough to compact.
Yes. A lot of our College Station-area work is on the south and southwest side — Wellborn, the county roads off FM 2154 and FM 159 toward Millican, and rural lots along roads like I&GN and Straub. We also serve acreage around the newer developments near Southern Pointe. If your property is anywhere in Brazos County, call and we will tell you when we can get there.
Price depends on length, base depth, rock type and whether the driveway crosses a ditch that needs a culvert. Most residential drives need four to six inches of compacted base, more on soft clay. On county roads, ask Brazos County about any culvert requirements; on a state highway, a TxDOT driveway permit applies. We size the culvert to the water flow at your crossing so it does not back up or wash out.
Dry stretches are best. Some soils around College Station hold water near the surface from November through March, and saturated clay cannot be compacted properly, so pads and ponds go faster in late summer and fall. Brush piles are another factor: Brazos County issues burn bans in dry spells, most recently from September 1 to October 5, 2026, so we plan debris handling around current conditions. We work year-round and schedule around the weather.
Whether your land sits off Rock Prairie Road, out past Wellborn or down toward Millican, 3H Construction is ready to walk it with you. Tell us what you want to build, and we will give you a free, straight estimate for the clearing, grading, pad, pond, driveway or fence that gets you there.
