Earthwork for Designers

What needs to get done first?

Request Conventional/Photometric Survey Preliminary Plans - should be prepared once horizontal and vertical alignment and tentative right of way limits have been established. Request Soil Survey

Photometric Survey
Photometric Surveys will be a coordinated effort between district personnel and the Photogrammetry office as far the preparation of the following information:
Targeting / Corridor coverage area Vertical and Horizontal Control
It should be kept in mind that photogrammetric data will almost always be supplemented with conventional survey data.

Conventional Survey
Cross sections are taken at all equations and at all breaks in the natural ground line as will be necessary to obtain a reasonably accurate calculation of the earthwork involved in grading the improvement. Cross sections are not necessarily taken at even stations, particularly in rough terrain since such terrain will require variations of the cross section locations as required to properly represent the terrain. In flat terrain, cross sections are taken with a maximum spacing of 200 ft. [60 m]. Special care is exercised to make sure that cross sections are taken at right angles to the centerline.

What needs to get done first?

Request Conventional/Photometric Survey Preliminary Plans - should be prepared once horizontal and vertical alignment and tentative right of way limits have been established. Request Soil Survey

Preliminary Plans - Grades

The grade line should provide balanced earthwork insofar as it is practical to estimate a balanced grade line with the profile information and a knowledge of the location. In general, no attempt is made to establish precisely a balanced grade line, such as by measuring the areas between the profile and the proposed grade. Where the complexity of the work requires, the earthwork may be processed through the computer for use in establishing the tentative grade line. (PDM 2-06.3)

What needs to get done first?

Request Conventional/Photometric Survey Preliminary Plans - should be prepared once horizontal and vertical alignment and tentative right of way limits have been established. Request Soil Survey

Soil Survey Report

Request Soil Survey - The soils survey should be requested from the district geologist as soon as the roadway template, alignment and tentative grades have been established with a reasonable degree of certainty during development of the preliminary plan. Preliminary Plan and Cross section sheets will need to be supplied to the Materials department before soil survey can proceed.

Ways to Balance Earthwork

a) Adjusting profile - can be done as long as it doesn't affect three things:
a) affect bridge design layouts b) make driveways promised to property owners steeper than the agreements state c) affect existing roadway tie-ins

b) Adjusting fill and cut slopes past the clear zone (within soil survey slope limits) c) Wasting/borrowing material d) Slightly adjusting the soil multiplication factors

Mass Diagrams
Graphical representation of the amount of earthwork and embankment involved in a project and the manner in which the earth is to be moved. Shows balance points the station between which the volume of excavation and embankment are equal.
Any line draw parallel to the baseline and intersecting two points within the same curve will indicate a balance of cut and fill qualities between these two points.

Mass Diagrams
The quantity of excavation on the mass diagram is considered positive, and embankment is negative.
If the final point on the mass diagram is a negative amount, it would indicate a net shortage of earthwork material for the project and a need to borrow that quantity of earthwork material

The mass diagram allows a highway engineer to determine direction of haul and quantity of earth taken from or hauled to any location.