The approach is the section of concrete where your driveway or parking lot ties into the public street or alley. It takes more punishment than almost any other flatwork on a property, because every vehicle that comes and goes rolls over the same spot — and on a commercial site, that can mean loaded box trucks and delivery vehicles all day long.
When an approach is poured too thin, on a poorly compacted base, or without the right slope, it fails early: cracks spread from the edges, the slab settles where it meets the street, and water starts draining the wrong direction. We pour approaches built for the actual traffic they carry, across Belleville and the wider Metro East.
Residential vs. Commercial Approaches
Residential approaches need to handle daily car traffic plus the occasional heavier load — a moving truck, a trailer, a delivery. The common failure points are a base that wasn't compacted properly and concrete poured too thin at the street edge, where the load is highest. We spec the thickness and reinforcement for how you actually use the driveway, not a generic minimum.
Commercial approaches are a different job. A property that sees regular truck and equipment traffic needs a wider, thicker, more heavily reinforced approach to carry the weight without cracking. Slope, width, and drainage often have to meet local code and ADA access requirements. We build to the spec the site calls for and coordinate the work to keep your operation running.
When You Need a New Approach
The existing approach is cracking or settling at the street. The transition where your concrete meets the public pavement is the highest-stress point. Once it cracks or drops, it only gets worse with every freeze-thaw cycle.
It's too narrow or too thin for your vehicles. If you've added a bigger truck, a trailer, or moved to heavier equipment, an approach poured for lighter use may not hold up.
Water drains toward your property. An approach with the wrong slope pushes water toward your garage, foundation, or building instead of to the street. That's a drainage problem that gets expensive if it's left alone.
It doesn't meet current requirements. Older approaches may not meet current code for slope, width, or ADA access — which matters on commercial and public-facing properties.
Our Process
1. Free on-site estimate. We come out, look at the approach and how it's used, check the base and drainage, and measure. If there's an old section to remove, we price that in.
2. Demo and haul-away (if replacing). We tear out the failing approach with our own crew and trucks. No separate demolition or hauling company.
3. Base prep and grading. We grade and compact the sub-base and set the slope so water drains to the street, not your building.
4. Forming and reinforcement. Forms go in at the correct width and dimensions. Reinforcement is placed to match the load — heavier for commercial and truck traffic.
5. Pour and finish. We pour, finish, and set the surface texture, timed to the conditions.
6. Curing. We tell you how long to stay off it. Foot traffic is usually fine quickly; vehicles wait longer, and heavy commercial loads longer still — we give you the specifics for your pour.
What to Expect on Cost
Approach cost depends on square footage, thickness, reinforcement, whether an existing section needs removal, and whether the job is residential or built for commercial truck traffic. A standard residential approach lands in a very different range than a heavy-duty commercial approach, because the material and reinforcement requirements are different.
We don't quote a flat per-square-foot number without seeing the site, because that number ignores the base conditions and the load the approach has to carry. The estimate is free and written — we measure, walk you through options, and give you a clear price before any work starts.
Call us at 618-280-3200 or reach out through the contact page to set up a time.
Where We Work
We pour driveway and commercial approaches across St. Clair, Madison, and Monroe County. A few of the areas we work in regularly:
- O'Fallon, IL - O'Fallon service area
- Belleville, IL - Belleville service area
- Edwardsville, IL - Edwardsville service area
- Collinsville, IL - Collinsville service area
- Waterloo, IL - Waterloo service area
- Columbia, IL - Columbia service area
We also work in Troy, Glen Carbon, Fairview Heights, Swansea, Mascoutah, Highland, and the surrounding towns. If you're not sure whether we cover your area, call us. If we can get there, we will.
See the full service area map for more detail.
Related Services
Concrete Driveway Installation New concrete driveways poured start to finish, from base prep to the final finish.
Concrete Driveway Replacement Tear-out and repour in one stop. We demolish the old drive, haul it off with our own trucks, prep the base, and pour new.
Commercial Concrete Flatwork Pads, loading areas, and ADA-accessible surfaces for businesses, scheduled to limit disruption.
Site Prep & Grading In-house excavation, compaction, and drainage — the base work that determines whether the concrete above it lasts.