Planning for Earthwork

Construction

Planning for Earthwork

Construction

Planning Earthwork
Construction

Review the Contract Documents

Study the plans
Plan the Work
Perform quantity take-off
Determine costs

Every construction project is a

unique undertaking. Therefore,
planning is undertaken to
understand the problems and to
develop courses of action.

Planning Earthwork
Construction
A site visit is strongly recommended
to relate the physical site
characteristics to the work details.

Planning Earthwork
Construction
After the site visit is completed, the
planner determines the quantity of
materials that will have to be furnish
or move.
The takeoff or

Quantity Take-off
Must be as accurate as possible,
and should be based on all

available
engineering and
design data.

"quantity survey."

Planning Earthwork
Construction
During the takeoff, the planner
must make decisions concerning:
equipment needs
sequence of operations
and crew size

Graphical Presentation
of Earthwork
Three kinds of views are presented in
the contract documents to show
earthwork construction features:

Plan view
Profile view
Cross section view

Plan View
The plan view is looking down on the
proposed work and presents the
horizontal alignment of features

Cross Section View

A view formed by a plane cutting the
work at a right angle to its long axis
When the ground surface is regular,
sections are typically taken at every
full station (100 ft)
When the ground is irregular,
sections must be taken at closer
intervals & at points of change

Profile View
The profile view is a cut view typically
along the centerline of the work.
It presents
the vertical
alignment of
features.

Earthwork Quantities
Earthwork computations involve:

Calculation of earthwork
volumes
Balancing of cuts and fills
Planning of the most
economical material hauls.

End-Area
Determination
Most organizations use
commercial computer software
and digitizing tablets to calculate
cross section end areas.
www.trimble.com/paydirt.html
www.agtek.com/about.shtm

End-Area
Determination

Trapezoidal
Computations

Other methods include the use of a

planimeter, subdivision of the area
into geometric figures with
definite formulas for areas
(rectangles, triangles, parallelograms
and trapezoids), and the use of the
trapezoidal formula.

If the calculations must be made by

hand, the area formula for a triangle
and a trapezoid are used to compute
the volume.

Area of a triangle = hw
Area of a trapezoid =

( h1 h2 )
w
2

Average End Area

Method

General Trapezoidal
Formula
h
h
Area = 0 h1 h2 ... h( n1 ) n
2
2

Volume [net cy] =

( A1 A2 ) L

2
27

Assumes that the ground between

the two end areas changes in a linear
fashion.

Average End Area

Average End Area

Average End Area

Net Volume
Bank cubic yards (bcy)
Loose cubic yards (lcy)
Compacted cubic yards (ccy)

bcy

Mass Diagram
Earthmoving is basically an
operation where material is
removed from high spots and
deposited in low spots with the
making up of any deficit with
borrow or the wasting of excess
cut material.

lcy

ccy

Mass Diagram
The mass diagram is an excellent
method of analyzing linear
earthmoving operations.
It is a graphical means for
measuring haul distance (stations)
in terms of earthwork volume
(cubic yards).

Mass Diagram
Aids in identifying:
Where to utilize specific types
of equipment,
Where quantities of material
are required,
Average haul distance,

Earthwork Volume
Calculation Sheet
An earthwork volume sheet, can
easily be constructed using a
spreadsheet program. It permits
a systematic recording of
information and completing the
necessary earthwork calculations

Haul grades.

Earthwork Volume
Calculation Sheet

Table 3.1, page 73

Stations. Column 1 is a listing of all

stations at which cross-sectional areas
have been recorded.

Area of cut. Column 2 is the crosssectional area of the cut at each station.
Usually this area must be computed
from the project cross sections.

Area of fill. Column 3 is the cross-sectional

area of the fill at each station. Usually this
area must be computed from the project
cross sections. Note there can be both cut
and fill at a station.

Volume of cut. Column 4 is the volume of

cut between the adjacent preceding
station and the station. This is a bank
volume.

Volume of fill. Column 5 is the volume of

fill between the adjacent preceding
station and the station. The average-endarea formula, This is a compacted
volume.

STRIPPING

For cut sections subtract the stripping.

Column 6 is the stripping volume of

topsoil over the cut between the
adjacent preceding station and the
station. This represents a bank
volume of cut material. Topsoil
material is not suitable for use in the
embankment.

STRIPPING
For fill sections the stripping is a cut
quantity; plus an equal amount must
be added to the embankment
quantity.

Column 7 is the stripping volume of

topsoil under the fill between the
adjacent preceding station and the
station. The stripping is a bank volume
but it also represents an additional
requirement for fill material, compacted
volume of fill.

Column 8 is the total volume of cut

material available for use in embankment
construction. It is derived by subtracting
the cut stripping (column 6) from the cut
volume (column 4), both are bank volume

Column 9 is the total volume of fill

required. It is derived by adding the fill
stripping (column 7) to the fill volume
(column 5), both are compacted volume
quantities.

quantities.

Column 10 is the total fill volume

converted from compacted volume to
bank volume

Column 11 is the
difference between
column 10 and column
8. This indicates the
volume of material that
is available (cut is
positive) or required
(fill is negative) within
station increments after
intrastation balancing.

MASS DIAGRAM PLOTTING

Mass Ordinate
Column 12 is the running total of
column 11 values from some point of
beginning on the project profile.

1000
500
0
- 500
- 1000
0 + 00

1 + 00

2 + 00

3 + 00

4 +00

5 + 00

6 + 00

Horizontal scale (stations)

MASS DIAGRAM PLOTTING

1000

MASS DIAGRAM PLOTTING

1000

STATION 0+50
- 138 CY

500
0

500

STATION 1 +00
- 405 CY

- 500

- 500

- 1000

- 1000

0 + 00

1 + 00

2 + 00

3 + 00

4 +00

5 + 00

6 + 00

0 + 00

1 + 00

2 + 00

3 + 00

4 +00

5 + 00

6 + 00

MASS DIAGRAM PLOTTING

1000

MASS DIAGRAM PLOTTING

CONNECT THE
POINTS

1000

STATION 3 +50
518 CY

500
0

500
0

- 500

- 500

- 1000

- 1000

0 + 00

1 + 00

2 + 00

3 + 00

4 +00

5 + 00

0 + 00

6 + 00

MASS DIAGRAM

500

-500

-500

2 + 00

3 + 00

4 +00

5 + 00

5 + 00

6 + 00

Excavation exceeds embankment

requirements

- 1000

Descending lines
1 + 00

4 +00

Ascending lines

500

0 + 00

3 + 00

1000

- 1000

2 + 00

MASS DIAGRAM

Embankment requirements
exceeds excavation quantity.

1000

1 + 00

6 + 00

0 + 00

1 + 00

2 + 00

3 + 00

4 +00

5 + 00

6 + 00

MASS DIAGRAM

M ASS DIAGRAM
MASS
DIAGRAM

1500
1000

1000

CUT

500

V
O C
L C
U Y
M
E

FILL

500

Zero balance line

-500

-500

FILL

CUT
- 1000

-1000
0 + 00

1+00

2+00

3+00

4+00

5+00

6+00

7+00

8+00

Excavation quantity equals

embankment requirement..

1 + 00

2 + 00

3 + 00

4 +00

5 + 00

6 + 00

9+

S TATIONS

MASS DIAGRAM

MASS DIAGRAM
Maximum and minimum points

Maximum is where the cut

transitions into fill.

Minimum is where the fill
transitions into cut.

1000

Maximum and minimum points

500

-500

- 1000

Transition point
0 + 00

1 + 00

2 + 00

3 + 00

4 +00

5 + 00

6 + 00

MASS DIAGRAM

MASS DIAGRAM

Final position
410 cy
waste

500
cy
0

Stations

90 cy
borrow

Above the zero line indicates waste.

Below the zero line indicates borrow.

Is a graphical means for measuring

haul in terms of station yards.
Ascending lines?

Descending lines?
Crossing the zero volume line?
Max. and min. points?
Final position?

Economical Haul Distances

Machine type

Economical
haul distance

Large dozers,
Up to 300 ft
pushing material
Push-loaded scrapers 300 to 5,000 ft

Trucks

> than 5,000 ft

Mass Diagram With a Balance Line

Haul Distances
Average haul = area / quantity (cy)

Haul No. 3 quantity -17,080

Haul No. 1 quantity?

Haul Distances

Page 81

Haul Distance
0+00
1+00
2+00
3+00
4+00
5+00
6+00
7+00
8+00
9+00
10+00
11+00
12+00
13+00
14+00
15+00

h0
h1
h2
h3
h4
h5
h6
h7
h8
h9
h10
h11
h12
h13
h14
h15

0
-3,631
-13,641
-17,080
-17,080
-17,080
-17,080
-17,080
-17,080
-17,080
-17,080
-17,080
-17,080
-17,080
-8,502
0

-3,631
-17,272
-30,721
-34,160
-34,160
-34,160
-34,160
-34,160
-34,160
-34,160
-34,160
-34,160
-34,160
-25,582
-8,502

-1,816
-8,636
-15,361
-17,080
-17,080
-17,080
-17,080
-17,080
-17,080
-17,080
-17,080
-17,080
-17,080
-12,791
-4,251

Haul
Distance

213 ,654 sta . cy

17 ,080 cy

0+00
1+00
2+00
3+00
4+00
5+00
6+00
7+00
8+00
9+00
10+00
11+00
12+00
13+00
14+00
15+00

h0
h1
h2
h3
h4
h5
h6
h7
h8
h9
h10
h11
h12
h13
h14
h15

0
-3,631
-13,641
-17,080
-17,080
-17,080
-17,080
-17,080
-17,080
-17,080
-17,080
-17,080
-17,080
-17,080
-8,502
0

-3,631
-17,272
-30,721
-34,160
-34,160
-34,160
-34,160
-34,160
-34,160
-34,160
-34,160
-34,160
-34,160
-25,582
-8,502

Area under diagram

Average haul No. 3 stations

-1,816
-8,636
-15,361
-17,080
-17,080
-17,080
-17,080
-17,080
-17,080
-17,080
-17,080
-17,080
-17,080
-12,791
-4,251
-213,654
12.51

Consolidated Average Hauls

Stations
Haul 1 11,459 bcy 3+51 40,221 sta-cy
Haul 2 5,590 bcy 3+35 18,727 sta-cy
Haul 3 17,080 bcy 12+51 213,654 sta-cy
34,129 bcy
272,602 sta-cy
272,602 sta-cy = 8.0 stations
34,129 bcy

Consolidated Average Hauls

Using the individual average hauls and
the quantity associated with each, a
project average haul can be calculated.
Consider the three hauls and their sum
of verticals average haul distances. By
multiplying each haul quantity by its
respective haul distance a station-yard
value can be determined.

Consolidated Average Hauls

Stations
Haul 1 11,459 bcy 3+51 40,221 sta-cy
Haul 2 5,590 bcy 3+35 18,727 sta-cy
17,049 bcy
58,948 sta-cy
58,948 sta-cy = 3.5 stations
17,049 bcy
Haul 3 17,080 bcy 12.5 stations

Pricing Earthwork
Operations

Spreading Dumped
Embankment
Material with a Dozer

The cost of earthwork operations

will vary with the kind of soil or
rock encountered and the methods
used to excavate, haul, and place
the material in its final deposition.

Water Truck and Roller used to

Compaction Embankment
Material

Three-link Earthwork
System
Excavate & load

Spread &
compact

Haul, dump, return