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Estimating Excavation

Estimating Excavation
Item #: 5650
Author: Deryl Burch
Publisher: Craftsman
ISBN:934041962
Format: Paperback
Your Price: $39.95
In Stock


The heart of every earthwork estimate is calculating the cubic yards you'll have to move
Estimating Excavation explains how to calculate the amount of dirt you'll have to move and the cost of owning and operating the machines you'll do it with. Detailed, step-by-step instructions on how to assign bid prices to each part of the job, including labor and equipment costs. Also, the best ways to set up an organized and logical estimating system, take off from contour maps, estimate quantities in irregular areas, and figure your overhead. 448 pp.

Estimating Excavation - Table of Contents:

  • Get Started Right
    • Why calculate quantities?
    • Reading plans and specifications
    • Accuracy is essential
    • Record keeping
  • The Site Visit
    • Review the plans first
    • Make the visit productive
    • Site visit for a sample project
  • Properties of Soils
    • Soil testing
    • Soil classifications
    • Soil characteristics
  • Area Take-off by Plan and Profile
    • Cut and fill sections
    • Understanding surveys
    • End area calculations
    • Calculating the volume
  • Reading Contour Maps
    • Planimetric and topographic maps
    • Understanding contour lines
    • Locating unmarked points
    • Monuments and bench marks
  • Area Take-off from a Topo Map
    • Comparing the contour lines
    • Estimating with a grid system
    • Doing the take-off
    • Calculating cut and fill areas
    • Using worksheets in a take-off
    • Shortcuts for calculating quantities
    • The equal depth contour method
  • Irregular Regions & Cold Areas
    • Finding area using compensating lines
    • Finding volume using total area and average depth
    • Using compensating lines with a coordinate system
    • Using the trapezoidal rule
  • Using Shrink & Swell Factors
    • Soil states and their units of measure
    • Using shrink/swell factors in earthwork estimates
    • Estimating the number of haul trips
    • Using material weights to customize shrink/swell factors
    • Using soil weights to calculate equipment load factors
    • Pay yards
  • Topsoil, Slopes & Ditches
    • Dealing with topsoil
    • Calculating net volumes for earthwork
    • Slopes and slope lines
    • Estimating trenches
  • Basements, Footings
    • Grade Beams & Piers
    • Estimating basement excavation quantities
    • Finding volume - outside basement walls
    • Calculating the total volume for basement excavation
    • Sample basement estimate
    • Estimating ramps
    • Grade beams and piers
  • All About Spoil and Borrow
    • Underlying costs of spoil and borrow
    • Spoil and borrow volume calculations
    • Calculating the volume of a stockpile
    • Finding the volume for a stockpile of unknown height
    • Calculating volume for a stockpile of set area
  • Balance Points, Centers of Mass & Haul Distances
    • Balance points to an excavation estimator
    • Balance points to an engineer
    • Reducing haul distances
    • Calculating -haul distances
  • Earthmoving Equipment: Productivity Rates and
    Owning & Operating Costs
    • Machine power
    • Machine speed
    • Machine production
    • Productivity calculations for a simple dirt job
    • Owning and operating costs
    • Calculating the overhead
    • Adding the profit
    • Bid price per cubic yard
  • A Sample Take-off
    • General specifications
    • Doing the take-off
  • Costs and Final Bid for the Sample Estimate
    • The bid preparation process
    • Overhead
    • Machine selection
  • Blank Worksheets
    • Grid square area and volume
    • Grid take-off - existing contour
    • Grid take-off - proposed contour
    • Grid square calculation sheet
    • Cut and fill prism calculations
    • Quantities take-off sheet
  • Index
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