Case Study: Sukut Construction achieves stakeless, precise 1:1 hillside grading and a 5‑month schedule reduction with Trimble 3D GPS machine control

Dramatic Craggy Hillside Requires Imagination, Technology

Sukut Construction tackled the daunting Three Oaks at Walnut Hills subdivision outside Los Angeles — a 550‑acre, 268‑home project that required moving roughly 20 million cubic yards of dirt and rock across craggy terrain with 1:1 slopes, 280‑foot vertical drops, ancient landslides and multiple shear keys requiring massive bedrock removal. The complex topography and strict lot layouts made conventional grading and surveying impractical without significant risk of errors and delays.

Sukut built its own 3D digital site model and used GPS‑guided machine control (Trimble GCS900 on Caterpillar dozers) to perform stakeless, precise grading. The approach reduced staking by 75%, eliminated the need for extra full‑time survey crews, minimized rework, added scraper capacity, and shaved about five months off the schedule — meeting and exceeding the developer’s expectations for quality and speed.

Sukut Construction, Inc.

Ryan Lepke

GPS Site Coordinator