The art of moving dirt around is finding an acceptable place to haul it when a contractor is long (has a surplus) or to get it, if he needs fill because he's short.

Ray Daub, owner and founder of Kirkwood Excavating of Fenton, has been in excavating nearly 50 years and on his own for 37 years.

When he started out with one bulldozer, he spent a lot of time riding around in his pickup trying to find places to take the dirt he might have to move for contracts on which he was about to bid.

"It's a real project finding a place for dirt," Daub said. "We had a bunch of dirt up on (Highway) 367. I spent four days in the area, trying to locate areas that would accept it."

When Daub was younger, he said, he'd get the specifications of a contract, head to his office to do all the math necessary to figure out his costs to move dirt, so he could file a bid.