Drainage work in Clark County is what keeps Vancouver's 42-inch annual rainfall from becoming a foundation, crawl space, or yard problem. Rain builds from fall through spring, peaks in November and December, and does not reliably stop until mid-June. During that long wet stretch, shallow groundwater near the Columbia River and along Burnt Bridge Creek and Salmon Creek can stay near the surface for months. Vancouver Excavation Co. installs French drains, catch basins, swales, curtain drains, footing drains, and downspout tie-ins to collect that water and move it to a legal outfall before it finds a structure instead.
Clark County's low western edge near the Columbia River and Vancouver Lake sits in former floodplain that has held water since long before the city was here. Heavy silty clay slows infiltration across much of the area, the seasonal groundwater table climbs from October through spring, and neighborhoods that were developed quickly during the WWII shipyard boom — Fruit Valley, Fourth Plain Village, Burton Homes — now have aging drainage infrastructure that cannot handle the 42 inches of annual rainfall. We solve saturated yards, wet crawl spaces, and persistent standing water by finding the source first, then building a system that gives the water a real path out.
