Concrete Work Across Wichita

One city, many generations of concrete

Wichita counted 397,532 residents in the 2020 census, the largest city in Kansas, with 172,801 housing units (Wikipedia: Wichita, Kansas). It grew in bursts: the cattle-town 1870s, the land boom of the 1880s, oil money early in the 1900s, and aircraft manufacturing from the 1920s on, which earned the nickname "Air Capital of the World." Each wave left houses, and each house has concrete of its era. Narrow strip drives and stoop steps near downtown, wide two-car drives on postwar ranches, and three-car aprons on newer east- and west-side lots all wear differently.

The public strip in front of your house

Citywide, the most common source of confusion is the concrete between the driveway and the street. Kansas law, K.S.A. 12-1808, makes the abutting owner responsible for keeping the sidewalk in repair and lets a city of the first class repair it after notice and assess the cost to the lot (K.S.A. 12-1808, sidewalk repairs by owner or city). A City ordinance requires public sidewalks, curbs, gutters and private drive approaches to be built of concrete to the City Engineer's specifications (City of Wichita ordinance amending Code sections 10.12.010 and 10.12.020 (sidewalks, curbs and drive approaches)). Work in the right-of-way goes through the City's Traffic, Street and Construction Permitting office and is performed by a contractor with a current City concrete contractor license (City of Wichita, Traffic, Street and Construction Permitting). The sidewalk and approach guide walks through it.

Rivers, floods and the Big Ditch

The Arkansas and Little Arkansas rivers meet in the middle of town, and Wichita flooded repeatedly in the first half of the 1900s. After the 1944 floods, the Wichita-Valley Center Floodway, known locally as the Big Ditch, was conceived; it was finished in 1958 and carries part of the river around west-central Wichita (Wikipedia: Wichita). For flatwork the lesson is local: some lots sit low near creeks and channels, and drainage design matters more there than on higher ground.

Ground that moves

The Kansas Geological Survey calls expansive soils a pervasive Kansas problem that cracks foundations, driveways and sidewalks as clay swells and shrinks (Kansas Geological Survey, GeoRecord: geologic hazards and expansive soils). Across Wichita you see it as sidewalk panels with trip edges, patios that tip toward the house, and garage aprons that crack in a line just past the door. See expansive clay soil under slabs.

Winter is a slow grind

NWS Wichita normals list about 103 nights a year at or below freezing but only about 16 days that stay below freezing all day (NWS Wichita, annual climate normals for Wichita, Salina and Chanute). That means many freeze-thaw cycles each winter, and salt or slush tracked onto drives makes scaling the most common surface problem in the city. Air-entrained concrete, moderate de-icer use and a breathable sealer are the citywide basics.

Common requests around town

• Replacing a cracked, settled driveway and approach together
• Public sidewalk panels flagged with trip edges
• Backyard patios, often replacing a small original slab
• Lifting a sunken walk or stoop
• Resurfacing a scaled garage apron
• Shop and garage slabs on larger lots at the city's edges

Neighborhood pages

Three older neighborhoods have their own pages because their concrete has specific quirks: College Hill, with its hillside walks and steps; Riverside, between the two rivers; and Delano, west of the Arkansas. Suburbs ring the city: Park City and Bel Aire to the north, Maize to the northwest, and Haysville and Derby to the south. Each sets its own right-of-way rules.

Getting a useful estimate

Note your ZIP, which part of the concrete is private and which is in the right-of-way, how old the slab is, and where water sits after rain. The estimate factors page covers what changes a Wichita concrete scope.

Concrete services in Wichita

• Concrete Driveways
• Sidewalks, Walkways & Drive Approaches
• Concrete Patios
• Stamped & Decorative Concrete
• Concrete Repair & Resurfacing
• Garage Floors, Shop & Foundation Slabs
• Concrete Tear-Out & Replacement
• Estimate factors

Sources for this page: Wikipedia: Wichita, Kansas; K.S.A. 12-1808, sidewalk repairs by owner or city; City of Wichita ordinance amending Code sections 10.12.010 and 10.12.020 (sidewalks, curbs and drive approaches); City of Wichita, Traffic, Street and Construction Permitting; NWS Wichita, annual climate normals for Wichita, Salina and Chanute; Kansas Geological Survey, GeoRecord: geologic hazards and expansive soils.