Cut and fill cost estimating

[tincap]

Hello, I'm a Process Engineer. Am looking at a potential process plant project on a Mediterrean Island. The proposed site is hilly & in a Seismic zone. Cut and fill of volcanic sedimentary rock is required (minimal soil). Have had a civils study to estimate cost of preparatory works - I want to play around with different cuts and fills, and do my own rough calculations.

Been reading some earlier threads about programs such as Agtek, Earthmover, Paydirt, etc. What I want to know is are there any good freeware programs around, or can anyone point me in the direction of civils sites that show how to go about estimating and have guides or rules of thumb for cost estimating.

Thanks.

 

[SWUPE]

The Land Development Handbook has a good section on estimating earthwork. It's by Dewberry and Davis.

 

[chicopee]

why dont you plot your profile w/ an acad program, lay out your grades longitudinally and transversely and estimate your volumes of cuts and fills.

 

[bltseattle]

In my opinion,

While I can appreciate your interest, why don't you use your civil to do this? they should have software, and can identify grading issues, retaining wall feasability, construction & access issues, seismic design considerations, etc. A good civil should be able to work with you on alternatives if you explain your goals.

Are you going to be comfortable re-estimating earthwork on this project based on you learning some free software on the fly? Does your time have value? How do you intend to address the seismic issues when considering fill options?

You run the risk of fooling yourself into thinking you are going to save money/reduce work while missing bigger issues (e.g. constructability, seismic performance, drainage), which some civil will have to inform you of later on down the road (hopefully not during construction).

 

[PELS]

I agree with bltseattle. Although calculating volumes of cut and fill is really calculating volumes of geometric shapes, which most engineers encountered in school, there are many intangibles that must also be considered.

Estimating costs is difficult even if it is in your own locality. You need a history of bids from other similar or nearby jobs. You said this site is on a Mediterranean Island. Are there lots of earth moving contractors available there to give you ballpark costs? Do you have a history of earth shrinkage/swell for the area? Have you studied the geotech report on the site disclosing the soil characteristics?

My experience with volcanic flows is that the material actually expands from its in-place volume. This is due to the fact that it has been cemented in place for hundreds, maybe thousands and sometimes millions of years. When you break it apart, you can never get it back to the same density, thus, the volume expands. You have to account for this in your design.

There are probably many other issues to deal with that I haven't even thought of. You need some local knowledge and an experienced Civil.