wk8 EARTHWORK PDF

EARTHWORK / VOLUMES
ECV 3501 (Geomatics Engineering)
Prof. Dr. Shattri Mansor

Geomatics Engineering Unit
Department of Civil Engineering
Universiti Putra Malaysia
[email protected]
Outline of lecture
 Introduction
 Methods of volume measurement
 Applications
 Summary
Introduction
 Earthwork operations involve the
determination of the volumes of materials
to be excavated or embanked on an
engineering project.
 Not limited only to earth materials –
concrete structures, stock piles of crushed
stones, gravel, sand etc and reservoirs.
EARTHWORKS
 Any operation in an over land which

result in substantial modification to the
existing ground level.
 These will include activities such as
excavation, loading, hauling, placing
(dumping & spreading), compacting,
formation, cut & fill and finishing.
The manual method for determining earth excavation and
embankment amounts involves three steps:
- cross sections of the proposed highway

are placed on the original ground cross
sections,
- the areas in cut and the areas in fill are
calculated,
- the volumes between the sections are
computed.
Exercise:
Draw the
longitudinal
and cross
sections
Contoured plan with sections

EXCAVATION WORKS
Purpose of Earthwork
 For development of the structure or

building on the land.
 A process so that the ground will meet
the construction needs in terms of
location, elevation, soil density, moisture
content and so on.
Topography Model
Site Model
EARTHWORKS
 Three kinds of views are presented in the

contract documents to show earthworks
construction :
 Plan view
 Profile view
 Cross section view
EARTHWORKS
PLAN VIEW
EARTHWORKS
PROFILE VIEW
EARTHWORKS
CROSS SECTION VIEW
Fill section
Cut section
Cutting & Filling Works
 Cut – removing of earth from natural

terrain.
 Fill – Placement of earth to form an
embankment.
Purposes
 To bring the ground surface to a predetermined
grade
 To set up stakes to aid in carrying out the
construction work according to plans.
 In construction, earthwork volumes are involved
in:
 Highways
 Railways
 Foundations
The role of surveyors and
engineers
 Surveyors: Measure quantities of
earthwork for various construction
projects.
 Engineers: Design the infrastructures
based on the earthwork plan and cost.
Area calculation
 Simpson’s Rule
 Trapezoidal Rule
 Triangular Equation
 Co-ordinates
 Planimeter
VOLUME
 End area
 Average end area
 Contour or plan area
 Four corner averaging
VOLUME – END AREA (Average End Area)
- Used mainly in route work where

length is infinitely greater than the
width.
- Cross-sections are obtained at
intervals along the route and
volumes are calculated between the
sections.
Volume Calculation Methods
 Direct measurement is rarely made.
 Normally, indirect measurement is used by
measuring lines and areas.
 3 major methods:
 Cross-section method
 Mean areas
 End areas
 Prismoidal formula
 Unit-area or borrow-pit method or spot heights
 Contour-area method
VOLUME – END AREA (Average End Area)
Cut and Fill
Section of a
planned
highway
construction
Explanation
 Centre-line stakes are shown and mark
locations where cross-sections are taken.
 End-areas based on planned gradeline, size of
roadway and selected embankment and
excavation slopes are superimposed (shaded).
 Width of base (b) is usually wider in cuts than on
fills to provide for drainage ditches.
 Side slopes in fill are flatter than in cuts.
Area of Cross-Section
 To determine volumes of cut and fill, we
need to determine areas at cross-sections.
Volume computation
 For certain applications such as rock and
underwater excavation, price is so high
which requires cross-sections at very
close intervals ~ 10 ft (3 m)
 Ordinary road ~ 50 –100 ft (15 m – 30 m)
 After determining the cross-section area,
the next step is to determine the volumes.
Volume calculation
 Having determined the various areas of
cross-section, volumes are computed
using:
 Mean areas
 End areas
 Prismoidal formula
Cross-section method
 For computing volumes on linear construction
projects (highways, railways, waterways).
 Procedures:
 Stake the centre line (CL)
 Cross-sections are taken perpendicular to the CL
 Regular intervals (e.g. 10, 20 or 25 m).
 Extension of the application of levelling / total
station m’ment.
End areas
 Area of the cross-sections
 Can be computed by computation or use
of planimeter.
 Also can be computed from field cross-
section data and design info.
 From end areas, volumes are calculated
from average-end-area or prismoidal
formula.
Area of cross-section
 Cross-sections need to be taken at:
 Beginning and ending of curves
 Locations where unusual changes in
elevation occur
 Points where ground elevations coincide with
natural grades
Types of cross-sections
 Level section
 Three-level section
 Five-level section
 Irregular section
 Transition section
 Side-hill section
Level section
- suitable in flat
terrain.
Three-level section
- used when
ordinary ground
conditions
prevail.
Five-level section
- for rough
topography
Irregular section
- for rough
topography
Transition section
-occur in passing
from cut to fill
and on side-hill
locations.
Side-hill section in cut and fill
-occur in passing
from cut to fill
and on side-hill
locations.
Average-End-Area Method
V = {(A1 + A2)/2} x L
A = section area
L = length between areas 1 and 2
V = volume
Prismoidal formula
V = {L (A1 + 4Am + A2)} / 6
2 cross sections with

middle area = approx
For 3 cross sections:
 Prismoidal formula =
 d/3 (A1 + 4 x A2 + A3)
What will be
the formula if
you have
more than 3
series of cross
sections??
Volume by Prismoidal Formula
Volume from Spot Levels
 For large open
excavations –
tanks, basements
 Ground levelling
operations –
playing fields,
building sites
 Divide the area into
 Volume per sq =
squares  {[Ha + Hb + Hc +Hd]/4} l x b
 Mark the corner

points and  H = side spot height
determine the  l, b = side dimensions
heights
Borrow-pit method
 Area borrowed from outside project site to
obtain material to construct embankment
at project site.
 Contractor pay is based on quantities
borrowed from pit and contract bid item
price. Also, the owner is paid on quantity
used.
Borrow-pit
 To calculate volumes at borrow pits,
elevations are obtained at certain points
before and after earth is moved.
 Establish a grid system and read
elevations at corners, before and after
excavation.
 Find the net depth by adding the
difference between the elevations before
and after.
Volume from Contour method
 As an alternative to
calculation of volumes by
vertical cross-sections.
 If the contour maps are
available, they can be used
to compute earthwork
volumes.
 Area can be determined
using planimeter.
The volume between 145 m and 120 m contours can be
calculated using end areas method etc
Mass-haul diagram
 Diagram showing the accumulation of volumes of

materials along a line of road or highway.
 Cutting = +ve, Filling = -ve
 Function: to find the cost of excavation at one place and
deposition at another.
Mass Haul Diagram
(Source : Fig 2.1 Holmes, R.(1995), Introduction To Civil

Engineering Construction, University of the West of England,
Bristol)
Advanced methods
 Photogrammetry
 Technology used to extract both 2D and 3D
geographic information from aerial
photographs.
 Had received legal and contractor acceptance.
 Digital Elevation Models (DEM)

 Once this is created, computer software can be used
to create and analyse cross-sections.
EXERCISE : Calculation using
average-end-area method
L
 Compute the volume of excavation
between station 2480 with end-area of 711
m2 and station 2500 having an end-area of
515 m2.
End of lecture


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How are earthwork volumes measured and calculated?

What are the different methods used to calculate earthwork volumes?

EARTHWORK / VOLUMES

ECV 3501 (Geomatics Engineering)

Prof. Dr. Shattri Mansor

 Any operation in an over land which

- cross sections of the proposed highway

Contoured plan with sections

 For development of the structure or

 Three kinds of views are presented in the

 Cut – removing of earth from natural

- Used mainly in route work where

V = {L (A1 + 4Am + A2)} / 6

2 cross sections with

 Mark the corner

 Diagram showing the accumulation of volumes of

(Source : Fig 2.1 Holmes, R.(1995), Introduction To Civil

 Digital Elevation Models (DEM)

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