Curb and gutter define a parking lot, capture runoff, and meet city specifications where the lot meets a public street. Detroit Concrete pours continuous curb and gutter with machine-formed equipment for long runs and hand-formed for transitions and details, all to the cross-section and slope your project requires. Every project starts with a free written estimate.
Most people see curb and gutter as a landscape edge. It is actually the drainage system; the gutter pan captures runoff from the lot or street and channels it to catch basins, the curb keeps vehicles off the surface and contains the captured water. Get the slope wrong and the system holds water; get it right and the lot drains every storm.
We machine-form long continuous runs with a slipform paver for speed and consistency, then hand-form the transitions, intersections, drop-curb details and any curved sections that need shape work the machine cannot do. Both techniques produce the same cross-section; the choice is about run length and detail count.
The curb line is staked from the property survey and the engineered drainage plan, elevations are set at every transition and catch-basin location, and slope is confirmed before any excavation.
Prepare subgrade and base
The subgrade is excavated to depth, compacted, gravel base placed to the right thickness and compacted again, and the surface is brought to the elevation the curb will start from.
Slipform or hand-form
Long continuous runs are machine-formed with a slipform paver to the engineered cross-section; transitions, intersections, drop-curbs and curves are hand-formed and tied into the slipform sections seamlessly.
Joint, cure and tie-in
Control joints are tooled at the engineered spacing, the concrete cures protected from rain and sun, and tie-ins to adjacent parking lot slab or street pavement are detailed cleanly.
Where curb work goes wrong
Slope Is What Makes Gutter Work
A gutter pan without slope is just a trough that holds water. The slope from any point along the gutter to the next catch basin has to be enough to carry water at peak flow without ponding. We confirm slope as the work progresses, not just at the final elevation, because a slipform machine that loses slope by even a small percentage creates ponds that fail every winter.
Coordinate with the parking lot pour so curb and lot meet flush, with the city street tie-in so the public connection is right, and with any ADA ramps that need flush curb-cuts. The curb is the boundary between systems; it has to fit each one and tie cleanly into our broader parking work.
Slipform vs hand-formed, slope specs, city tie-ins and what curb actually does.
Both, depending on the run. Long continuous runs are slipformed for speed and consistency; transitions, intersections, drop-curbs and curves are hand-formed where the machine cannot work. Most lots get both techniques in the same project.
Surveyed at staking, monitored during the pour (slipform machines lose slope if they catch on irregularities), and verified after cure. A pan without slope holds water; we never leave one without confirming the drainage path actually works.
Yes, where the project includes a city tie-in, the curb is poured to the city's spec at that transition. We coordinate with the engineer and city inspector on the elevation and cross-section so the tie-in passes inspection.
Yes, isolated sections of failed curb can be cut out and re-poured to match. See parking lot repair for that triage approach; we treat curb damage the same way.
Machine slipform moves quickly; a long lot perimeter can be done in a few days. Hand-formed transitions add time; the full schedule is in the quote so you know how long curb work takes within the larger project.
Client reviews
What Detroit Operations Say About Their Curb & Gutter
Long slipform run around our entire lot perimeter. Continuous, sharp edges, exact slope to the catch basins. The drainage works perfectly through every melt.
W. N.
Property Manager, Detroit
★★★★★
Hand-formed transitions at every entrance look like part of the design, not patched-in. They coordinated the curb pour with the asphalt apron so the meeting line is invisible.
Q. L.
Retail Plaza Owner, Warren
★★★★★
City tie-in passed inspection first time. They knew the city's spec, poured to it, and the inspector signed off without revisions. Saved real schedule slip.
Z. L.
Industrial Site Manager, Ann Arbor
★★★★★
Drop-curbs at every accessible ramp tied in flush. ADA inspector confirmed compliance. The detail work shows; nothing improvised, everything to spec.
Y. E.
Mall Operations, Sterling Heights
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