Concrete Contractors in East Dubuque, IL

Concrete Contractors in East Dubuque are working on the Illinois side of the Julien Dubuque Bridge, in a city that began as Dunleith. It was platted under that name in 1853, got a Dunleith post office in 1854, and renamed the post office East Dubuque in 1879. Its population topped out at 2,408 in 1970; by 2020 it was 1,505, an 11.7% decline from 2010. Like Dubuque, it lies alongside the Mississippi and is topographically part of the Driftless Area.

A city that grew, then shrank

When a town peaks in 1970 and loses people afterward, it keeps the houses and concrete from its busier years. In East Dubuque that usually means:

• driveways and walks poured fifty or more years ago
• stoops that have dropped and opened a gap at the wall
• slabs patched on top of earlier patches
• garage floors with a dip in the center

A patch on a moving base buys a winter or two. Replacing a failed section on a new compacted base is the fix that lasts, and we price sections individually so you can do the worst ones first.

Owners and landlords

Of East Dubuque's 771 housing units in 2020, 9.1% were vacant. Rentals were 9.8% vacant, while owner homes were just 1.0% vacant. Rental properties here need durable, low-maintenance walks and steps that are safe for tenants. We can replace a single broken step or a few walk squares and keep a usable entry open during the work.

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Wall Street and salted roads

U.S. Route 20 runs through the city as Wall Street, and brine from the highway and the bridge ends up on driveways and walks across town. Salt and freeze-thaw are what flake the surface off older concrete. New exterior slabs get an air-entrained mix, a broom finish and a request that you skip rock salt the first winter. In later years, a penetrating sealer reapplied every two to three years helps.

Bonded overlays and when they fail

A driveway with only light surface wear can sometimes take a thin resurfacing layer. That only works on a slab that is solid, level and not cracking through. A slab that rocks, has sunk at one end or has broken into pieces will carry its problems right through any overlay, and it should come out.

Hillside and riverfront lots

East Dubuque sits along the Mississippi and belongs to the same Driftless terrain as Dubuque, so many lots climb steeply from the river. Steep lots there raise the same questions as in Dubuque across the bridge: runoff washing under slabs, driveways that need a careful transition at the street, and steps cut into slopes. We plan grade and drainage before forms go in, and use a coarser broom finish on any walk or drive steep enough to be slick in winter.

From Dunleith to East Dubuque

The city was platted as Dunleith in 1853 and took its present name for the post office in 1879, so the oldest blocks are well over a century old. Many of those houses sit on narrow lots against the bluff, with the front walk, the stoop and the public sidewalk only a few feet apart and a retaining wall holding the yard above. When a stoop or walk next to a wall is replaced, we check that the wall is not leaning or relying on the old slab for support, and we leave a gap with a filled joint so the new concrete and the wall can move separately.

Permits across the state line

Illinois towns set their own rules. Before replacing a driveway apron or public walk, we check with the City of East Dubuque on what permits and specifications apply to your address.