About

Thirty-five years in construction, now in La Pine

SurfaceTek, Inc. is a site work, septic, and excavation company based in La Pine, Oregon.

SurfaceTek is a new company. The experience behind it isn't.

Toby's been in construction since 1991 — starting as an operator on the Cottonwood Tree Farm, then training as a licensed journeyman electrician, before moving into running a custom home design/build contracting business. Over the years that experience has covered wind farms, reservoirs, highway projects, and just about everything in between.

For the last 15 years, that background has carried into large-scale mining and reclamation work: as part of teams running mining operations that move a million tons a day, reclamation projects that reshape entire mountains, and Mass Excavation projects that moved a million yards in a single summer.

That background is the reason a driveway or a septic repair here gets treated as an engineering problem rather than a dirt-moving one. Grade, drainage, and compaction behave the same way on a quarter-acre lot as they do on a mine bench. The consequences are just smaller.

Toby Witt operating a Kubota excavator on a residential site in central Oregon.

Toby Witt on a residential dig in central Oregon.

Project history

Where the thirty-five years were spent

The photographs below are from projects Toby worked on as an operator before founding SurfaceTek. They are not SurfaceTek jobs — they are the thirty-five years behind it.

Volvo excavator loading an articulated haul truck on a mass excavation. — **Mass excavation**Excavator loading an articulated truck on a reservoir project. Crane rigging behind gives the scale.

Mining & reclamation

Morenci Copper Mine operations, Arizona. Colowyo Coal Mine expansion, Colorado. Gold mine reclamation, Salt Lake City. Castle Mountain gold mine reopening for Equinox, California.

Waste rock and main pit expansion at the Climax Mine, Leadville CO, starting at 13,200 feet of elevation — where weather, altitude, and a short working season set the schedule.

Reclamation of the Chevron-owned Questa molybdenum mine, NM — described as the largest project of its kind, and used as a test model for reclamation work elsewhere in the world.

View gallery

Heavy civil

Water reservoir construction in Wyoming, Colorado, Texas, and Alabama. Wind farms across the Midwest. Terminal expansion at Charlotte Douglas airport. Industrial construction in South Carolina. Highway widening in West Texas.

View gallery

Dozer cutting a bench above a valley at the Climax Mine. — **Cutting the bench**Dozer pushing along a bench cut, valley and river corridor below.

Dozer blade nose to nose with large boulders. — **Blade to rock**Nose-to-nose with material too large to push in one pass.

Volvo A40F articulated truck loaded with cut material. — **Hauling cut material**Volvo A40F articulated truck loaded and moving off the cut.

Dozer working a wide bench at sunrise. — **First light on the pad**Wide bench worked smooth, sunrise breaking over the ridge.

Dozer holding grade on a broad snow-covered bench. — **Working the pad**Dozer holding grade across a broad snow-covered bench.

Dozer silhouette on a ridge above a hazy valley. — **Ridge overlook**Silhouette against the valley haze below, elevation doing the work light can't.

Excavator working a rock ridge above an alpine lake. — **Ridge line cut**Excavator working a knife-edge ridge above an alpine lake.

Dozer cresting the top of a large stockpile. — **Cresting the pile**Dozer working the top of a stockpile, faint equipment markings visible on the face.

CAT 995 wheel loader parked for service at a rock face. — **Service day**Wheel loader down for maintenance at the rock face, tools staged.

Excavator working alone along a high ridge. — **Ridge work, distance**Excavator working alone along a high ridge, support trucks staged below.

Excavator working a rock ridge above two alpine lakes. — **Above the lakes**Excavator working a rock ridge with two alpine lakes in the basin below.

CAT D10T dozer with ripper at sunset. — **Ripping at sunset**D10T dozer with ripper shank down, day's last light on the ridge.

CAT D10T dozer under a rising moon at dusk. — **Moonrise**D10T holding the pad as the moon comes up over the range.

View from the rim into a large open pit mine. — **Looking into the pit**The scale of the excavation from the rim — benches, haul roads, and switchbacks cut into the mountain.

Sunrise light over an open pit mine from inside the cab. — **Sunrise over the pit**First light hitting the far wall from inside the cab.

Volvo A45G articulated truck dumping a load at elevation. — **Load out**Volvo A45G dumping at elevation, snow-capped range behind.

CAT D9 dozer cresting a stockpile with light towers. — **Stockpile crest, dusk**D9 working the top of the pile as the lights come on.

John Deere excavator loading a CAT articulated truck during reclamation grading. — **Reclamation loadout**Excavator loading a haul truck with material and root stock as part of reclamation grading.

CAT wheel tractor-scraper loaded and moving, tire in foreground. — **Scraper, tire to camera**CAT wheel tractor-scraper loaded and moving.

Dozer backlit at sunrise beside a stockpile. — **Sunrise start**Dozer backlit at sunrise, stockpile alongside.

CAT D9T dozer working frosted ground at dawn. — **D9T at dawn**Dozer working frosted ground, mountains and mist behind.

Two dozers parked on a snow-covered pad in winter. — **Winter yard**Two dozers parked on a snow-covered pad.

Motor grader working a road with an empty scraper pan staged behind. — **Grader and scraper pan**Motor grader working the road, empty scraper pan staged behind.

CAT dozer and excavator working a bench, desert range behind. — **Bench cut, dozer and excavator**Dozer and excavator working a bench, distant range behind.

CAT 6015B excavator, service truck, and dozer staged together. — **Staged for service**CAT 6015B excavator, fuel/service truck, and dozer staged together.

Motor grader working a haul road with an empty scraper pan staged behind. — **Grader and empty scraper pan**Motor grader working the haul road, scraper pan staged behind.

Excavators, dozer, and haul trucks working a wide bench in the desert. — **Fleet on the bench**Excavators, dozer, and haul trucks working a wide bench, desert flat beyond.

**Loading the haul truck**Excavator loading a rigid-frame haul truck at the pit floor.

**Truck to truck**Excavator swinging a load between two haul trucks.

Motor grader blade close, sunset over the range. — **Grading at sunset**Motor grader blade close, sun setting over the range.

Rigid-frame haul truck crossing open pit floor, dust trailing behind. — **Haul truck, open ground**Rigid-frame truck crossing open pit floor, dust trailing behind.

**Truck line, first light**A line of haul trucks queued at first light, loader working the face beyond.

**Fleet lineup**Loader, haul truck, and excavator staged together at day's end.

Rain-streaked windshield with a dozer visible ahead on the cut. — **Working through the rain**Rain-streaked windshield, dozer visible ahead on the cut.

Scraper fleet staged at dusk with lights on. — **Scraper fleet, dusk**Lights on, scraper train staged for the next pass.

Dozer holding grade above the Salt Lake valley and mountain range. — **Ridge push above the valley**Dozer holding grade, Salt Lake valley and range beyond.

Two CAT dozers parked with hazy valley behind. — **Two dozers, valley haze**Parked side by side, city and haze in the distance.

Four dozers and an excavator staged in a row with mountains behind. — **Dozer lineup**Four dozers and an excavator staged in a row, range behind.

**Straight down the cut**Dozer framed dead-center in a graded road cut.

CAT 745 haul truck parked on the pad. — **Haul truck, rear quarter**CAT 745 parked on the pad.

CAT D9T dozer parked with ripper shank up. — **D9T, side profile**Dozer parked, ripper shank up, stockpile behind.

Dozer in front of a scraper train and water truck staged behind. — **Fleet lineup, scrapers and water truck**Dozer in front, scraper train and water truck staged behind.

**Dusk on the ridge**Dozer silhouette against a clouded evening sky.

**Terraced slope, overview**Graded terraces stepping down toward the valley floor.

**Sunset silhouette**Dozer bucket in silhouette against a burning sunset sky.

Two dozers silhouetted against pink and blue evening light. — **Two dozers at dusk**Paired dozers silhouetted against pink and blue evening light.

CAT D6 XE dozer with root rake and ripper, haul truck staged behind. — **D6 XE with ripper**Dozer with root rake and ripper, haul truck staged behind.

**Working the bank**CAT D6T shaping the bank beside a spillway channel.

Excavator loading haul trucks at the edge of a cleared area. — **Fleet at the tree line**Excavator loading haul trucks at the edge of the cleared area.

Excavator and articulated trucks working the cut near a power line. — **Loading out**Excavator and articulated trucks working the cut, power line marking the site edge.

Dozer working a large graded pad with more equipment active in the distance. — **Fine grading, wide view**Dozer working the pad, more equipment active in the distance.

Dozer at the water's edge with finished spillway steps and rock armor behind. — **Spillway and reservoir bank**Dozer at the water's edge, finished spillway steps and rock armor behind.

Dozer working red-clay bank beside a reservoir with a turbidity curtain in the water. — **Bank at the water's edge**Dozer working red-clay bank beside the reservoir, turbidity curtain in the water.

**Structure and crane**Excavators and a crawler crane working around formed concrete walls.

Concrete boom pump reaching over rebar and formwork with a crane standing by. — **Concrete placement**Boom pump reaching over rebar and formwork, crane standing by.

Excavator placing armor stone over bedding and geotextile at the shoreline. — **Riprap at the shoreline**Excavator placing armor stone over bedding and geotextile.

Two excavators working rock and fabric along the reservoir bank. — **Shoreline work, second angle**Two excavators working the rock and fabric along the bank.

**Rock pile, low angle**Excavator perched atop a stockpile of broken stone.

Excavator loading an articulated rock truck with a crane tower behind. — **Loading the rock hauler**Excavator loading an articulated rock truck, crane tower behind.

Wide view of a structure excavation with concrete pump truck, crane, and crew. — **Structure excavation**Wide view of the cut, concrete pump truck, crane, and crew working the structure.

**Loading out**Excavator loading an articulated truck at the top of a red-clay cut.

Sheepsfoot roller compacting the bank above a reservoir. — **Bank and compactor**Sheepsfoot roller compacting the bank above the reservoir.

**Bucket over the truck**Excavator bucket swinging a load into a haul truck in the rain.

Excavator, articulated truck and dozer on a central Oregon site at dusk. — **Central Oregon — before SurfaceTek**Not all of the earlier work was out of state. Subdivision and road construction around Bend, running equipment on the same ground SurfaceTek works today.

Motor grader shaping a subdivision road in central Oregon. — **Road grade**Motor grader shaping subgrade on a new subdivision road, with utilities set and lots staked either side.

Dozer and loader working roads and lots on a central Oregon subdivision. — **Subdivision build**Roads cut and rocked, lots roughed in. Rock on the right is what central Oregon ground gives you.

Finished sidewalk and tracked slope on a central Oregon road project. — **Finished slope**Sidewalk in, embankment tracked in for erosion control ahead of seeding.

Cat dozer working the crest of a steep fill slope. — **Working the slope**Dozer on the crest of a fill. Slope work is where operating stops being about the blade and starts being about the ground under the tracks.

Excavator working alongside a new sidewalk and manhole on a central Oregon road. — **Utilities and hardscape**Excavator working alongside finished curb and walk, manhole set to grade. Working next to live traffic and new concrete.

Cat excavator on a cut slope above a new sidewalk in central Oregon. — **Cut above the walk**Excavator working the cut above a finished sidewalk, road open below.

Cat D5K LGP dozer at an industrial plant construction site. — **Industrial site**D5K LGP on an industrial plant build. Low ground pressure for working soft ground without churning it.

Cat 259D compact track loader grading beside an industrial building. — **Fine grading**Compact track loader working tight to the building line where the big iron cannot reach.

Reservoir intake structure under construction inside an excavated cut. — **Reservoir structure**Intake structure going in inside a cut — concrete pump, crawler crane, formwork, and a compactor working the base.

Cat dozer working an embankment with finished spillway steps behind. — **Embankment**Dozer on the fill, with the finished spillway steps and water surface behind.

Excavators placing armor stone over bedding along a reservoir slope. — **Riprap and bedding**Armor stone placed over bedding and geotextile — the layer that keeps the bank from going anywhere.

Concrete boom pump reaching over formed walls with a crawler crane standing by. — **Concrete placement**Boom pump over formed walls, rebar set and tied ahead of the pour.

Dozer shaping fill at a reservoir water line with turbidity curtain deployed. — **Shoreline work**Shaping fill at the water line, turbidity curtain deployed to keep sediment out of the reservoir.

Cat D6T dozer with a loaded blade of red clay on an embankment. — **Cat D6T**Blade loaded on the embankment. Clay this heavy holds compaction well and punishes anything that has to move it.

Excavators working alongside an airport terminal building during expansion work. — **Airport terminal expansion**Excavation alongside a live terminal. Working next to an operating facility means the schedule is set by everyone else's.

Excavator and telehandler working with crew and safety fencing on an airport expansion site. — **Terminal site work**Excavator, telehandler, and crew inside the fenced work zone. Every trade sequenced around the ones that cannot stop.

Articulated haul truck dumping fill at the water line on a reservoir project. — **Placing fill**Articulated truck dumping at the water line for the dozer to spread and the roller to compact.

How we work

You talk to the person who walked the site.

Toby Witt handles estimating and project management directly. When you call, you're talking to the person who wrote the number — not a coordinator relaying messages to someone in a truck.

We give realistic schedules instead of optimistic ones. We write down what's excluded. And when something on site changes the cost, you hear about it before it changes the cost.

On septic work specifically: we find out what's actually wrong before quoting a replacement. Sometimes that means we do a smaller job than the one you called about.

Credentials

Licensed, bonded, insured

Oregon CCB #260092

Licensed with the Oregon Construction Contractors Board.

DEQ SDS #39968

Oregon Sewage Disposal Service License — on-site septic installation, repair, and maintenance.

Bonded & insured

Certificates available on request.

Trust

BBB Accredited Business

SurfaceTek, Inc. is accredited with the Better Business Bureau, effective August 4, 2026, and commits to the BBB Standards for Trust: building trust, advertising honestly, telling the truth, being transparent, honoring promises, safeguarding privacy, being responsive, and embodying integrity.

View certificate

Tell us about the site.

Estimates are free, and we'd rather look at it in person than guess.

Request an estimate (541) 208-9313