Earth Work & Quantities

HAWASSA UNIVERSITY
INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY
DEPARTMENT OF CIVIL ENG.
 Introduction
• Is the phase during a highways
construction when the right of way is
converted from its natural condition and
configuration to the section and the grades
prescribed in the plans

HAWASSA UNIVERSITY, CIVIL 2

ENGINEERING DEPARTMENT
 Earth Work Includes
• Clearing
• Grubbing - clear off roots
• Excavation of drainage channels & trenches
• Excavation of structures
• Borrows
• Haul & Overhaul
• Grading
• Preparation of Side Slopes
• Reconditioning of roadway
• Other operations for preparing the subgrade for highway
or runway pavement construction (Highway Eng. II)
HAWASSA UNIVERSITY, CIVIL 3
ENGINEERING DEPARTMENT
 Earthwork Quantity
• Quantity and Cost are calculated in m3 either in
its original form or by allowing for shrinkage and
swell
• The rate of payment generally includes full
compensation for excavation, formation of
embankment, preparing of side slopes, disposal
or borrowing with in the free-haul distance, and
the preparation and completion of the subgrade
and the shoulders
• For borrowing or disposal involving more than
the free haul distance
HAWASSA UNIVERSITY, CIVIL 4
ENGINEERING DEPARTMENT
Classification of Excavated Material
Usually the classification is into three categories:
1. Solid Rock: hard rock and boulders; Volume > 1m3; best
removed by blasting
2. Loose Rock: detached masses or rock – 0.025<V<1m3;
could easily be removed
3. Common/Ordinary Excavation: all others

HAWASSA UNIVERSITY, CIVIL 5

ENGINEERING DEPARTMENT
 Shrinkage & Swell Factors
• The process of excavation breaks up earth and makes it
take up more space afterwards – Swelling (e.g.
excavated rock occupies a larger volume in fill)
• After placing the excavated earth in a fill and
compacting, volume will become less than the original.
Difference b/n original volume in cut and final volume in
fill – Shrinkage
• Shrinkage depends on:
– the material’s characteristics and moisture content; climatic
conditions; and method of placing
• Shrinkage & Swell must be taken into consideration

HAWASSA UNIVERSITY, CIVIL 6

ENGINEERING DEPARTMENT
 Shrinkage of compacted fills
Material % of shrinkage
Light excavated soil 10 – 20%
(on ordinary ground)
Light excavated soil 20 – 40%
(on swampy ground)
Heavy Excavated soil Up to 10%
Excavated Rock (Swell) 5 – 25%
Amount of excavation required to make a given fill may be
arrived at by:
Shrinkage: multiply the fill quantity by 1+ %sh
Swelling: divide the fill quantity by 1 + %sw 7
HAWASSA UNIVERSITY, CIVIL
ENGINEERING DEPARTMENT
 Road Bed Sections
• A highway sub-grade is usually formed with
shoulders and a trench section upon which the
pavement will be constructed, the finished
surface being crowned to facilitate drainage
• Ditches are provided on embankment sections
to transfer water down the fill slops into pipes or
paved gutters to protect the embankment
against erosion
• On curves of 5o or sharper subgrade is banked
and widened. Width of road bed in cut is wider
than on fills to allow for side-ditches.
HAWASSA UNIVERSITY, CIVIL 8
ENGINEERING DEPARTMENT
 Typical Sections

Fill

Cut & Fill

Cut
HAWASSA UNIVERSITY, CIVIL 9
ENGINEERING DEPARTMENT
 Side slopes of X-sections

Material Ht. of Side Slope Back Slope

Slope Cut Fill

Soil 0–1 1:4 1:4

1–2 1:3 1:3
Over 2 1:2 1:2
Rock Any ht. See standard details
Black Cotton 0–2 - 1:6
Soil Over 2 1:4

HAWASSA UNIVERSITY, CIVIL 10

ENGINEERING DEPARTMENT
 Areas of Cross-sections
• For the purpose of calculating the
quantity of earth work, the areas of
cross-sections and the distance between
them must be known
• Methods
– For regular/level ground  simple geometry
– For irregular ground, two methods
1. Graphical or planimeter method
2. Coordinate or other approximate method

HAWASSA UNIVERSITY, CIVIL 11

ENGINEERING DEPARTMENT
 Area for Regular Ground
Area of a trapizod
sd sd

1 d 1
s s

2
A  bd  sd
b
Cut
b
s
d 1

sd sd
Fill
HAWASSA UNIVERSITY, CIVIL 12
ENGINEERING DEPARTMENT
 Area for (Regular) cut – fill sections
n
L
C 1 in
b/2
A1=Area in cut 1 h2
s1 A2
A2=Area in fill d s2
A1 c
h1 1

d1 d2
(b  2nd ) 2 (b  2nd ) 2
When c is to the right A1  and A2 
of the point of zero fill 8(n  s1 ) 8(n  s2 )
2 2
(b  2nd ) (b  2nd )
When c is to the left of A1  and A2 
the point of zero fill 8(n  s1 ) 8(n  s2 )
HAWASSA UNIVERSITY, CIVIL 13
ENGINEERING DEPARTMENT
 Area of irregular section
Trapezoidal Rule
Assumes the boundaries could be approximated by a
straight line, if the interval L between offset
measurements is very small
L L L
O1 A1 A2 A An On+1
3

O2 On
O3

A  A1  A2  ...  An
A  L / 2O1  On 1  2(O2  O3  ...  On )

HAWASSA UNIVERSITY, CIVIL 14

ENGINEERING DEPARTMENT
 Area of irregular section
Simpson’s Rule
Assumes, instead, that the boundaries consist of a series of parabolic
arcs
For this rule to apply, N must be an odd number

L L L
O1 A1 A2 A An On+1
3

O2 On
O3

A1  A2  L / 3(O1  4O2  O3 )
A3  A4  L / 3(O3  4O4  O5 )
A  L / 3(O1  ON  4 even offsets  2 remaining odd offsets )
HAWASSA UNIVERSITY, CIVIL 15
ENGINEERING DEPARTMENT
 Computation of Volumes

Two methods will be discussed here:

1. Average End Area Method

2. Prismodal Formula

HAWASSA UNIVERSITY, CIVIL 16

ENGINEERING DEPARTMENT
 Average End Area Method
Volume of a right prism equals the average area
multiplied by the length
A1  A2
V12  l
2
V  l / 2[( A1  An )  2( A2  A3  ...  An  2  An 1 )]

HAWASSA UNIVERSITY, CIVIL 17

ENGINEERING DEPARTMENT
 Prismodal Formula
• A prismoid is a solid whose ends are parallel and
whose sides are plane or warped surfaces
• The Volume of a prismoid is: Vab  l 6 ( A1  4 Am  A2 )
V13  l 3 ( A1  4 A2  A3 )
V35  l 3 ( A3  4 A4  A5 )
 V15  l 3 ( A1  A5  2 A3  4( A2  A4 ))
 V  l 3 ( A1  AN  2(remaining odd areas )  4(even areas ))

• A1 & A3 are parallel end areas a distance l apart

and A2 the area at the mid-length, found out by
interpolating the linear dimensions.
HAWASSA UNIVERSITY, CIVIL 18
ENGINEERING DEPARTMENT
 Mass Diagram
• Is a continuous curve showing the accumulated
algebraic sum of the cuts (+ve) and fills (-ve)
from some initial station to any succeeding
station
• Ordinates of the mass curve are plotted with
reference to a horizontal scale of distances
• It is convenient to tabulate the cumulative sum
of cuts and fills at a station before drawing a
Mass diagram

HAWASSA UNIVERSITY, CIVIL 19

ENGINEERING DEPARTMENT
 Drawing a mass-haul diagram
Procedures
1. Calculate areas at cross-sections
2. Calculate the volume of fill and cut; cut is +ve and fill –
ve.
3. Correct the volume calculated by shrinkage and swell
factors
4. Tabulate the corrected aggregate volume
5. Plot the mass haul diagram
(scale: 1:2000 H and 1:500 or 1:1000 (cm:m3)V)
6. Join points by a straight line or curves

Sta Individual volume Bulking/ Shrinkage Corr. Indiv. volumes Aggregate

Cut Fill factors Cut Fill Vol.

HAWASSA UNIVERSITY, CIVIL 20

ENGINEERING DEPARTMENT
 Mass-Haul Diagram -
Characteristics
i. The Ordinate at any point represents the cumulative material to
that point on the profile
ii. With in the limits of a single cut, the curve rises from left to right;
within the limits of a single fill, it falls from left to right
iii. Sections where the profile changes from cut to fill correspond to a
maximum (and the opposite for ch. from fill to cut). Evidently the
maximum and minimum points on the mass diagram occur at or
near grade points on the profile
iv. Any horizontal line cutting a loop of a mass curve, intersects the
curve at two points b/n which the cut is equal to the fill (adjusted
for shrinkage); such a line is called a BALANCE LINE
v. The loop convex upward indicates that the haul from cut to fill is
to be in one direction

HAWASSA UNIVERSITY, CIVIL 21

ENGINEERING DEPARTMENT
 Mass-haul Diagram - Example
Natural ground profile
m

h
i l Proposed grade line

j k
Aggregate volume (m3)

H J

K M
O Chainage (km+m)
L

HAWASSA UNIVERSITY, CIVIL 22

ENGINEERING DEPARTMENT
 Distribution Analysis of Earthwork
Terminologies
• Haul Distance: distance from point of excavation to point where the
material is to be tipped
• Average Haul Distance is the distance from the centre of gravity of
the excavation to the centre of gravity of the tip
• Free-haul Distance: is the distance (usually specified in the contract)
over which a charge is paid only for the volume of earth excavated
and not for its movement (300m). Free-haul is part of the haul which is
contained within the free haul distance.
• Over-haul Distance: is the distance in excess of the free-haul
distance, over which it is necessary to transport material. An extra
charge will be paid for transport. Over-haul is part of the haul which
remains after the free haul has been removed.
• Haul: is the sum of the product of each volume of material and the
distance through which it is moved. On the mass-haul diagram, it is
the area contained b/n the curve and the balance line

HAWASSA UNIVERSITY, CIVIL 23

ENGINEERING DEPARTMENT
 Distribution Analysis of Earthwork
Terminologies (cont.)

• Waste: is the volume surplus or unsuitable

material which must be exported from a
section of the site.
• Borrow: is the volume of material which
must be imported in t a section of the site
due to deficiency of suitable material

HAWASSA UNIVERSITY, CIVIL 24

ENGINEERING DEPARTMENT
 Limit of Economical Haul
• For long haul distances, it may be
economical to waste and borrow materials
rather than pay for cost of overhauling

Compare Cost of overhauling vs. Cost of waste + borrow

HAWASSA UNIVERSITY, CIVIL 25

ENGINEERING DEPARTMENT
 Limit of Economical Haul
Let: Ce=cost of excavation per unit volume (including free haul)
Cb=cost to excavate borrow pit (including free haul)
Coh=cost of overhaul per m3m
Le=Economical Length of over-haul
Cost to excavate 1m3 of material from cut and move to fill
=Ce+CohLe (1)
Cost of excavate from cut, waste, borrow and place 1m3 material in
fill = Cb+Ce (2)
Equating (1) & (2): Ce+CohLe= Cb+Ce  Le=Cb /Coh
Total Distance, D=Le+F
where: F=free haul distance
HAWASSA UNIVERSITY, CIVIL 26
ENGINEERING DEPARTMENT
 Example
If the cost of roadway excavation, Ce, is 800
cents/m3, cost of borrow, Cb, is 700 cents/m3, and
cost of overhaul, Coh, is 12 birr/m3-station, what is
the economical length of overhaul? The free
haul distance is 1.5km and a station is 100m
long.

Ans: Le =1558m

HAWASSA UNIVERSITY, CIVIL 27

ENGINEERING DEPARTMENT
 Example
For the tabulated volume of cut and fill data given
below:
1. draw the mass-haul diagram, and
2. estimate the total cost of excavating and moving
earth
if, the cost of excavation is 6birr/m3, cost of borrow is
6 birr/m3, cost of overhaul is 12birr/station-m3, and
the free haul distance is 1.1km. Use a shrinkage
factor of 0.9.

HAWASSA UNIVERSITY, CIVIL 28

ENGINEERING DEPARTMENT
 Example
Indiv. volume Bulking/ Shrinkage Corr. Indiv. Volumes Agg.
Sta 103 m3 factors 103 m3 Vol.
km+m Cut Fill Cut Fill

0+000
2.00 - 0.9 1.80 1.80
0+100
1.2 - 0.9 1.08 2.88
0+200
0.8 - 0.9 0.72 3.60
0+300
0.15 - 0.9 0.14 3.74
0+400
- 0.65 0.65 3.09
0+500
- 1.50 1.50 1.59
0+600
- 2.00 2.00 - 0.41
0+700
- 1.80 1.80 - 2.21
0+800
- 1.60 1.60 - 3.81
0+900
2.00 - 0.9 1.80 - 2.01
1+000
1.80 - 0.9 1.62 0.39
1+100
1.60 - 0.9 1.44 1.05
1+200
- 1.00 1.00 0.05
1+300
- 1.00 1.00 - 0.95
1+400
3.00 - 0.9 2.70 1.75
1+500
1.00 - 0.9 0.90 2.65
1+600 HAWASSA UNIVERSITY, CIVIL 29
ENGINEERING DEPARTMENT