1. Prof Awad S. Hanna
ESTIMATING
EARTHWORK

2. Prof Awad S. Hanna
Estimating Earthwork
Ear t hwor k includes:
1. Excavat ion
2. Gr ading: Moving ear t h t o change
elevat ion
3. Temporar y shor ing
4. Back f ill or f ill: Adding ear t h t o r aise
grade
5. Compact ion: I ncr easing densit y
6. Disposal

3. Prof Awad S. Hanna

A. J ob condit ions
Mat er ial t ype
Wat er level and moist ur e cont ent
J ob size
Lengt h of haul
Haul road condit ion (accessibilit y and
load rest r ict ions)

4. Prof Awad S. Hanna
Productivity Factors (cont.)
B. Management condit ions
Equipment condit ions and maint enance
pr act ices
Skills of wor k f or ce and management
Planning, super vision and coordinat ion of
wor k.

5. Prof Awad S. Hanna
Job EfficiencyFactors for
Earthmoving Operations
JobConditions** Excellent Good Fair Poor
Excellent 0.84 0.81 0.76 0.70
Good 0.78 0.75 0.71 0.65
Fair 0.72 0.69 0.65 0.60
Poor 0.63 0.61 0.57 0.52
Management Conditions*

6. Prof Awad S. Hanna
Units of Measure
Cubic Yard (bank, loose, or
compact ed)
Bank (BCY): Materials in its natural
state before disturbance
(in-place, in-situ)
Loose (LCY): Materialthat has been
compacted ordisturbed
orloaded
Compacted (CCY): Materialaftercompaction

7. Prof Awad S. Hanna
1.0
1.25
0.90
1.0 CUBI C
YARD I N
NATURAL
CONDI TI ON
(I N-PLACE
YARD)
1.25 CUBI C
YARD AFTER
DI GGI NG
(LOOSE
YARDS)
0.90 CUBI C
YARD AFTER
COMPACTED
(COMPACTE
D YARDS)
In place CompactedLoose

8. Prof Awad S. Hanna
Volume
Bank: VB
Bank cubic yards (BCY)
Densit y B Lb / BCY
Loose: Vl
Loose cubic yards (LCY)
Densit y L Lb/ LCY
Compact ed: Vc
Compact ed cubic yards (CCY)
Densit y C LB/ CCY

9. Prof Awad S. Hanna
Swell:
A soil incr ease in volume when it is
excavat ed.
Swell (%) = ( - 1) x 100
Load f act or =
Bank Volume = Loose volume x Load
f act or
Loose densit y
Bank densit y
Bank densit y
Loose densit y

10. Prof Awad S. Hanna
Shrinkage:
A soil decreases in volume when it is
compact ed
Shrinkage (%) = (1 - )
x 100
Shrinkage f act or = 1 - Shrinkage
Compact ed volume
= Bank volume x Shrinkage f act or
Bank densit y
Compact ed densit y

11. Prof Awad S. Hanna
Approximate Material Characteristics
Material
Loose
(lb/cy)
Bank
(lb/cy)
Swell
(%)
Load
Factor
Clay, dry 2,100 2,650 26 0.79
Clay, wet 2,700 3,575 32 0.76
Clayand gravel, dry 2,400 2,800 17 0.85
Clayand gravel, wet 2,600 3,100 17 0.85
Earth, dry 2,215 2,850 29 0.78
Earth, moist 2,410 3,080 28 0.78
Earth, wet 2,750 3,380 23 0.81
Gravel, wet 2,780 3,140 13 0.88
Gravel, dry 3,090 3,620 17 0.85
Sand, dry 2,600 2,920 12 0.89
Sand, wet 3,100 3,520 13 0.88
Sand and gravel, dry 2,900 3,250 12 0.89
Sand and gravel, wet 3,400 3,750 10 0.91
Exact values will vary wit h grain size, moist ure cont ent ,
compact ion, et c. Test t o det ermine exact values f or specif ic
soils.

12. Prof Awad S. Hanna
Typical Soil Volume Conversion
Factors
Initial
Soil Type Soil Condition Bank Loose Compacted
Clay Bank 1.00 1.27 0.90
Loose 0.79 1.00 0.71
Compacted 1.11 1.41 1.00
Common earth Bank 1.00 1.25 0.90
Loose 0.80 1.00 0.72
Compacted 1.11 1.39 1.00
Rock(blasted) Bank 1.00 1.50 1.30
Loose 0.67 1.00 0.87
Compacted 0.77 1.15 1.00
Sand Bank 1.00 1.12 0.95
Loose 0.89 1.00 0.85
Compacted 1.05 1.18 1.00
Convrted to:

13. Prof Awad S. Hanna
Estimating Earth work for
Trenches and Foundation
Angle of Repose
2’-0”
or more

14. Prof Awad S. Hanna
Approximate Angle of Repose
For Sloping Sides of Excavat ion
Original
Ground Line
SolidRock,SlateorCementedSandandGravel
(90Deg.)
CompactedAngularGravels
1/2:1(63Deg.)
Recom
m
ended
Slope
for
A
verage
Soils
1:1
(45
Deg.)
Compact ed
Sharp Sand
1 1/ 2
:1 (33
Deg.)
Well Rounded Loose Sand
2:1 (26 Deg.)

15. Prof Awad S. Hanna
Calculating Earthwork
Quantities
1.End Area Met hod
2. Cont our Line/ Grid Met hod

16. Prof Awad S. Hanna

Used in sit es where lengt h is much
great er t han widt h

17. Prof Awad S. Hanna

1. End Area Met hod
a. Take cr oss-sect ions at regular int ervals,
t ypically, 100’ int ervals.
b.Calculat e t he cr oss-sect ion end areas
c. The volume of ear t hwork bet ween
sect ions is obt ained by t aking t he aver age
of t he end areas at each st at ion in squar e
f eet mult iplied by t he dist ance bet ween
sect ions in f eet and dividing by 27 t o
obt ain t he volume in cubic yar ds.

18. Prof Awad S. Hanna

Fill
Cut
80
82
84
86
88
80
84
86
88
82
78
A’ B’ C’ D’ E’ F’
A B C D E F
100' 100' 100' 100' 100'
500'
300'

19. Prof Awad S. Hanna
80
78
76
82
80
78
84
82
80
86
84
88
86
90
88
78.5
80.3
82.3
84.2
86.2
88.2
Sec. A’- A
Sec. B’- B
Sec. C’- C
Sec. D’- D
Sec. E’- E
Sec. F’- F
ProjectCrossSections

20. Prof Awad S. Hanna

80
79
78
77
76
79.5
78.5
76.7
Sect ion A’- A
Area = = 173.7
193 x 1.8
2
Area = = 53.5
107 x 1.0
2

21. Prof Awad S. Hanna

82
81
80
79
78
81.8
80.3
76.7
Sect ion B’- B
Area = = 189.0
210 x 1.8
2
Area = = 67.5
90 x 1.5
2

22. Prof Awad S. Hanna

Section Emb(CCY) Exc. (BCY) Exc. x B/C
(CCY)
Net Exc.
(CCY)
Cum Exc
(CCY)
A-B 672 224 254 - 418 - 418
B-C 567 441 499 - 68 - 486
C-D 215 791 896 681 195
D-E 0 1031 1167 1167 1362
E-F 0 1222 1384 1384 2746

23. Prof Awad S. Hanna

Used f or parking lot s and sit e
“leveling”
Grid size f rom 10’x10’ t o 50’x50’
t he great er t he t errain variance t he
smaller t he grid

24. Prof Awad S. Hanna

St ep l
Det ermine by visual st udy of t he sit e drawing if t he net
t ot al will be an import (more f ill r equired t han cut ) an
export (less f ill required t han cut ) or a blend (cut and f ill
about equal)
St ep 2
Det ermine t he pat t ern of calculat ion point s or grid size.
St ep 3
Det ermine elevat ions at each calculat ion locat ion, t he
corners of each grid.
St ep 4
Calculat e t he cubic yards of cut or f ill required in each
grid cell.
St ep 5
Add t he individual Grid Cell quant it ies t oget her t o arrive
at t he t ot al cut , t ot al f ill volume and t he import or volume

25. Prof Awad S. Hanna
A B C D E F
87.6 88.6 89.4 90.4 91.6 93.2
G H J K L M
87.4 88.2 89.5 90.6 91.6 92.7
N O P Q R S
87.2 87.7 89.0 90.4 91.3 92.0
87.6 88.5 89.3 90.3 91.5 95.0
94.3
93.5
93.1
A B C D E F G
300’
88’ 89’ 90’ 91’ 92’ 93’ 94’
No Scale
Not es:
1. Br ing t he ent ir e sit e t o elevat ion
90.
2. All gr ids ar e 50’x 50’ = 2500 sq. f t .
3. Pr esent cont our s

26. Prof Awad S. Hanna
Pur pose
Grade t he ent ire sit e t o gr ade 90’
Quick and Dir t y
Assume one grid
Exist ing 90.50
Pr oposed 90.00
Cut 0.50
Tot al Cost = = 833CY
150 x 300 x 0.50
27
300'
150'
Need
Fill
Need
Cut
90'
90' 91'
90.5'

27. Prof Awad S. Hanna
Average elevat ion
=
= 88.08
change = 90-88.08
= 1.92
cut =
= 177.77 CY
and so on.
I f we choose t he grid size t o be 50’x50’
87.6+88.5+87.6+88.6
4
87.6
88.6
87.687.6