LIMESTONE DOESN'T NEGOTIATE. WE BREAK IT ON SPEC.
In-situ hydraulic rock breaking for Austin's most unforgiving geology. The NPK GH6 1,500-lb hammer on a CAT 308E2 CR hits limestone shelves, embedded boulders, and subsurface formations without overexcavation — guided by an RTK pre-scan that locates every obstruction before iron meets ground.
Book a Site ScanTHE GEOLOGY
DOESN'T CARE
ABOUT YOUR TIMELINE.
Austin sits on the Edwards Plateau — a thick Cretaceous limestone formation that comes to the surface in the Hill Country and goes subsurface throughout Central Texas. That means pool builders hit rock at 18 inches. Infill developers find limestone shelves where a crawlspace used to be. Estate owners discover boulders the size of trucks when grading begins.
The contractors who don't plan for it blow timelines and pass cost overruns to their clients. The ones who do use hydraulic hammer equipment sized for Austin's specific geology — and they pre-scan before they mobilize.
PRIMARY
CLASS
HAZARD
COMMON
IN-SITU BREAKING.
NOTHING BURIED. NOTHING GUESSED.
Rock & boulder demolition is the controlled, in-place mechanical breaking of limestone formations and embedded boulders using a hydraulic hammer — followed by fragment extraction, sorting, and debris management. Every job begins with an RTK drone scan that maps the obstruction before the hammer swings. Every job ends with a verified grade that documents what was removed and where it went.
BLUE ROCK CHANGES EVERY NUMBER IN YOUR PROPOSAL.
Standard limestone quotes use one cost basis. Edwards blue rock — the high-silica formation found throughout the Austin Hill Country — can be 2–3× harder, requiring more hammer energy, more time, and more wear on tooling. When a contractor bids a rock job without characterizing the formation, somebody eats the overrun. ClearGround's RTK pre-scan plus test bore identifies formation hardness class before the proposal is written. The bid you sign is the bill you pay.
DEMOLITION JOB ACTUALLY WORKS
The DJI Mavic 3 Enterprise RTK drone maps your site to ±0.5cm horizontal accuracy. Rock outcrops, probable subsurface formations, and access constraints are logged. For pool and foundation excavation scopes, a test bore supplements aerial data to characterize formation depth and hardness class. This pre-scan is what lets us write a fixed-price proposal — not a range with a contingency clause that eats you.
The CAT 308E2 CR compact radius excavator arrives fitted with the NPK GH6 hydraulic hammer — a 1,500-lb class breaker with chisel bit selected for the identified rock type. Where access is tight, offset boom configuration maximizes operating radius. Utility marks confirmed. Adjacent structures flagged for vibration clearance. The job starts with a plan, not a guess.
Rock is broken to size, extracted, and sorted on-site. Fragments suitable for on-site milling are processed through the rock mill attachment — producing crusher-run aggregate that can be used as base course, drainage layer, or compacted fill, potentially eliminating haul-off cost entirely. Oversized debris is staged for truck haul to an approved C&D facility. Nothing leaves the site undocumented.
Post-demo RTK scan confirms achieved grade against design target. Total cubic yards removed calculated and verified. Signed accuracy report delivered alongside a CAD/BIM-ready digital twin of the finished surface. You get documentation that holds up in any conversation — with your pool builder client, your GC, your engineer, or your lender.
THE SCAN TELLS YOU
EXACTLY WHAT IT COSTS.
Rock jobs resist flat per-square-foot pricing because formation hardness, depth, and fragment size vary too much between sites. Every ClearGround rock & boulder demo starts with a free RTK pre-scan that characterizes your specific obstruction — so the proposal you sign is a fixed price, not a range that moves when the hammer hits something harder than expected.
All pricing reflects Central Texas residential and light commercial rock demolition. Actual quote based on site-specific conditions assessed during your free RTK drone scan. Blue rock formation, unusual depth, and access constraints are the primary variables. Every proposal includes fixed price, timeline, and equipment spec — no post-job surprise adjustments.
Excavation Contractors
Austin's Hill Country substrate is the biggest single risk factor in pool construction. When excavation hits limestone, a crew without a hydraulic hammer either walks or damages equipment. ClearGround's RTK pre-scan identifies the rock profile before you commit to a dig depth — so you can bid accurately the first time. When rock shows up mid-dig, 48-hour mobilization gets the hammer on-site before the project falls off schedule.
Pool Builders — How We Work TogetherCustom Home Builders
Austin's infill lots are full of geological surprises — old fills over limestone, caliche caps hiding rock below, and boulders that never got removed during original site work. The CAT 308E2 CR's compact radius is built for the tight operating clearances of 50×100 infill lots, where swinging near an existing neighbor's foundation is the daily operating condition. Clean grade delivered, documented, and ready for the next phase.
Infill Developers — How We Work TogetherRural Landowners
Estate and ranch property in the Austin Hill Country often hasn't been cleared in decades. Boulder fields, limestone outcrops, and caliche formations require systematic identification and removal before any construction grade work can begin. ClearGround's RTK survey quantifies obstruction volume before clearing starts — so landowners know total scope, not just a day-rate and a hope.
Estate Owners — How We Work Together& Site Developers
Rock encountered mid-project is always a schedule emergency. ClearGround's 48-hour mobilization is designed for exactly this scenario — rapid response with the right equipment, a fixed-price proposal based on the pre-scan, and documentation that lets you reconcile the change order with your client accurately. We don't guess at volume. We measure it.
Talk to Us About Your SiteKNOW YOUR ROCK
BEFORE YOUR CREW DOES.
Every rock & boulder demo starts with a free RTK site scan. You get an obstruction map, formation assessment, and a fixed-price proposal — before a single hammer strike. No surprises, no change orders, no wasted mobilizations.
Book a Free Site Scan