Strung along old Route 66 and I-44 between Rolla and Fort Wood, Doolittle is practically in our backyard. MB General Contracting brings the full range of site work and in-house concrete to homeowners and landowners here — usually within a short drive of our St. James shop.
Doolittle is a small rural community of roughly 600 people just west of Rolla, named for General Jimmy Doolittle and stretched along the old Route 66 alignment where it parallels the I-44 corridor. For us it is one of the easiest towns to serve — we are minutes east in St. James, so a call in the morning often means we are standing on your property looking at the project the same week. That proximity keeps our travel short, our scheduling flexible, and your estimate free.
MB General Contracting is owner-operated by Matthew Buhlinger, a licensed general contractor with 15+ years working this exact stretch of Phelps County. Because we run our own dozers, excavators, skid steers and forestry mulcher — and pour our concrete in-house rather than subbing it out — one local crew handles the whole job, from clearing raw ground to the finished driveway or slab. For Doolittle property owners that means fewer people to coordinate, straight answers, and no runaround.
The properties we work on around Doolittle run the gamut: older homes and small lots close to the highway, rural acreage and hobby farms out along the county roads, shops and outbuildings, and the long gravel drives that come with country living. Whether you are prepping a new build, fixing a wet yard, or replacing a driveway that has washed out one too many times, it is the kind of work we do here every week.
Doolittle sits on the Ozark plateau, and the ground shows it. Under the topsoil you often hit chert and rock, and the terrain rolls between the highway grade and the surrounding ridges and draws. That rocky, uneven ground is exactly why the right equipment matters — thin soil over rock changes how a footing gets dug, how a driveway is based, and how water moves across a lot after a hard rain.
Being tucked between I-44 and old Route 66 also means a lot of local drives and yards feed toward the highway ditches and low spots, so grading and drainage go hand in hand out here. And with the Rolla-area airports and the Fort Wood approach nearby, plenty of Doolittle parcels are open acreage that needs clearing or shaping before anything else can happen. We plan the dirt work around that reality instead of fighting it.
One licensed local crew for site work and concrete — all eight services, with the dirt work and drainage that Doolittle ground calls for most.
Digging, cut-and-fill and site prep on rocky Doolittle ground — foundation and shop pads, ponds, and general earthwork for new builds and additions. See our excavating work →
Clearing and brush removal on the open acreage and wooded parcels common west of Rolla, with a forestry mulcher for fence lines, building sites and overgrown lots. More on land clearing →
New and rebuilt gravel drives for the long rural approaches around Doolittle — proper base over rock, crowning and culverts so they shed water and stop washing out. Driveway grading details →
Poured in-house — driveways, garage and shop slabs, patios, sidewalks and footings, formed and finished by our own crew, not a sub. Our concrete work →
French drains, swales, culverts and regrading to move water off yards and away from foundations — key on lots that drain toward the highway ditches. Drainage solutions →
Walls that hold back the rolling Ozark grade around a house pad, driveway or yard so you get usable, level space out of a sloped lot. Retaining walls →
Trenching and installing water lines and utility runs across acreage — connecting shops, outbuildings and new construction on rural Doolittle parcels. Waterline & utility →
Boring lines under driveways, roads and landscaping so utilities go in without tearing up what's already there. Directional drilling →
When you are this close to our base, hiring local actually means something. We are not driving an hour from the city and padding the bill for it — we are a short trip up I-44, which keeps mobilization simple and scheduling quick.
St. James to Doolittle is a short hop along the interstate, so we can usually get out for a free, in-person look quickly and fit the work in without a long wait. Call or text and we'll set a time.
Dozers, excavators, skid steers and a forestry mulcher, plus concrete poured in-house — clearing, excavation, grading, drainage and concrete all handled by the same licensed crew that knows this ground.
Every Doolittle project is priced from the ground in front of us, never a guess over the phone. The things that move the number are the practical ones:
Very quickly. We are based in St. James, just a short drive east on I-44, so Doolittle is one of the closest towns we serve. Call or text (573) 728-2550 and we can usually schedule a free on-site look within days rather than weeks.
No. Estimates are free and done in person. Because we are so close, coming out to walk your property and give you a real scope costs you nothing — and it's the only honest way to price site work and concrete.
Yes. Long country drives off the Doolittle-area roads are some of our most common work. We set a proper base over the rocky ground, crown the surface, and add culverts where needed so the drive sheds water and stops washing out. See our driveway grading page for more.
Usually, yes. Many lots here drain toward the Route 66 / I-44 ditches or sit in a low spot on the rolling ground. We use regrading, swales, French drains and culverts to move water off your yard and away from the foundation. Details are on our drainage page.
All the time. The Ozark plateau around Doolittle is rocky, and we run our own excavators, dozers and skid steers to dig, base and backfill accordingly — whether it's a footing, a slab or a driveway.
We pour it in-house. Driveways, shop and garage slabs, patios, sidewalks and footings are formed and finished by our own crew, so you deal with one contractor from start to finish. See our concrete page.
Free, in-person estimates on excavating, driveways, drainage and concrete — from a licensed local crew just minutes up I-44.
