About DirtWorks

Tools for tradesmen, built by tradesmen.

The Art & Science of Earthwork.

Why DirtWorks

Every crew member, their own phone, doing the work.

For decades, field technology came in big cases of hardware with software that cost tens of thousands of dollars, made by companies that aren't tradespeople. DirtWorks is app-based: everyone in the company carries it on their own phone.

Made by the trade.

Built by a grade checker, for the way grade checkers and crews actually work: what you need, where you need it, nothing in the way.

On every phone.

The whole company can have it, not just the one person who carries the expensive kit. More eyes on the plans, fewer mistakes in the dirt.

No cases, no huge subscriptions.

No bulky hardware to haul and no five-figure licenses. Simple monthly plans and a free app for viewing.

“There's a big difference between a product brochure and how it works in practice. That's true in almost every trade, and out here it matters: what the big suppliers promise in theory isn't always how we work in the field. Times and technology are changing, but after more than 10,000 hours in a machine-control dozer, I learned one thing fast: when the technology is working right, you look out the window and do your job, not at the screen.”

Justin Walls, founder

We respect the surveyors, engineers and toolmakers who built this industry. We're not surveyors. We build tools that work the way a tradesman works.

Why we built the Hive

“As a grade checker, project manager and estimator for large and small earthwork companies across Southern California, I always needed to get my deliverables and data to clients and the people who needed them.

Over time a grading company piles up points, shots, CAD files, PDFs and linework, especially on a bigger, more complicated job. Even the photos get hard to wrangle into the right place when you need them. I was always desperate for one easy tool that kept everything in one place and ran the analysis I needed to do my job.

And when people need to know something, they need it now. On an earthwork job you need the cuts, fills or stockpiles by lunchtime, or the next morning at best. There's no time to send it off to a far-away office and wait for it to come back.

So the Hive puts everything from every player in one place, organized by location first, and sorts out who needs it after. It goes straight from the grade checker's bag or data collector in the field to the office, the engineers, the surveyors and everyone with a stake in the job.

That's the problem the Hive solves. And the tools built around it are the ones tradespeople have been waiting for, the ones the big, disconnected vendors never delivered.”

Justin Walls, founder of DirtWorks. Grade checker, project manager and estimator, 25 years in the trade.
Our place on the team

We're earthwork tradesmen. We're not surveyors.

A good job runs like a fine-tuned ball club: everybody plays their position, and it's a lot of fun.

  1. The engineerdesigns the project and sets the intent.
  2. The surveyorskilled craftspeople who carry the design the rest of the way, to a grade stake a contractor can pull a tape to.
  3. The tradesmanbuilds it, checks the grade, and makes sure the work meets the engineer's and designer's intent. That's us, and that's who these tools are for.

DirtWorks tools are built for the accuracy, precision and reliability of a peep sight and a tape measure. We don't try to match a surveyor's precision; that's the surveyor's job. We don't design projects; that's the engineer's job. We're the grade checkers, project managers and estimators, and these are tools for us, built by us.

Our Mission

The Art & Science of Earthwork.

“The art is in the read — how a site moves, where the water wants to go, what the operator can hold. The science is in the numbers — bank, swell, shrinkage, mass haul, cycle time. We do both. Every job.”

How the platform works → See the tools →