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Roberts Construction Company
Roberts Construction Company
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West Greenwich, RI

The most forested town in Rhode Island, and most of it is reserved for someone’s drinking water.

Watershed advisory

A large portion of West Greenwich sits inside or adjacent to the Big River Management Area — about 8,300 state-owned acres held by the Rhode Island Water Resources Board as a future drinking-water supply. The first question on a West Greenwich job isn’t soil. It’s where you are relative to that boundary.

Lot review & estimate (401) 479-1472

Where your lot sits decides what stacks on top of the permit.

Three practical zones in West Greenwich. Most parcels touch more than one — the strictest tier controls.

Zone 01 · Watershed-restricted

Inside or adjacent to Big River Management Area

Big River is roughly 8,300 acres held by the RI Water Resources Board as a future drinking-water supply. Parcels inside the boundary or close to it draw an extra layer of state review on anything that could affect surface or ground water. OWTS design, drainage, and any earthwork close to a tributary need to anticipate watershed scrutiny. We pull the boundary on day one and design from there.

Permits stacked

  • +RIDEM Office of Water Resources (OWTS, drainage)
  • +RI Water Resources Board notification on bordering parcels
  • +RIDEM Freshwater Wetlands review for buffered features

Zone 02 · Wetlands-buffered

Within RIDEM freshwater wetlands buffer

RIDEM regulates wetlands at the state level — most relevant buffers are 50 ft from a perennial stream, 100 ft from a pond, and 200 ft from a priority feature. West Greenwich is wet country: small ponds, beaver flowages, and seasonal streams thread through every quad. Even a driveway extension or a leach-field replacement can land inside a buffer. We map first, design second.

Permits stacked

  • +RIDEM Freshwater Wetlands Application
  • +RIDEM OWTS for septic work in buffers
  • +Town Planning Board if subdivision-related

Zone 03 · Standard rural

Upland, outside both

Most West Greenwich lots large enough to build on still have an upland portion that’s outside both the Big River boundary and any mapped wetland buffer. Job here looks like Foster: glacial till, possible ledge, OWTS via RIDEM, drilled well, long driveway. Standard rural Rhode Island excavation, just deep in the trees.

Permits stacked

  • +RIDEM OWTS approval (state)
  • +Town of West Greenwich building permit
  • +Dig Safe (811)

The work itself, regardless of zone.

Once the boundary work is done and the permits are in motion, the dirt isn’t very different from what we run in Foster or Sterling. Glacial till uplands, scattered ledge, OWTS leach fields, drilled wells, and long driveways through trees. We test-pit foundations before committing to depth, quote rock as a contingency, and trench supply lines off the well. The West Greenwich complication is mostly above the soil — it’s in the paperwork.

Wickaboxet State Forest, the Big River parcels, and a patchwork of smaller management areas add up to a town that’s more state forest than house lots. We treat that as the operating condition rather than an exception.

We’ll pull the boundary, walk the lot, and tell you what your West Greenwich job actually involves before you commission the OWTS design.

Get an estimate (401) 479-1472