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Construction Cost Management: Learnings From Case Studies by Keith Potts

The document describes two methods for excavating a reinforced concrete basement: open cut excavation and using a steel cofferdam. Method A is open cut excavation, which would require excavating 37,500 cubic meters at £10 per cubic meter for a total of £442,500. Method B uses a steel cofferdam around the perimeter, costing £84,000 for sheet piling and £375,000 to excavate within, for a total of £474,000. The contractor must select the most economical excavation method based on site conditions and material type.

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Nihar Nanyam
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105 views3 pages

Construction Cost Management: Learnings From Case Studies by Keith Potts

The document describes two methods for excavating a reinforced concrete basement: open cut excavation and using a steel cofferdam. Method A is open cut excavation, which would require excavating 37,500 cubic meters at £10 per cubic meter for a total of £442,500. Method B uses a steel cofferdam around the perimeter, costing £84,000 for sheet piling and £375,000 to excavate within, for a total of £474,000. The contractor must select the most economical excavation method based on site conditions and material type.

Uploaded by

Nihar Nanyam
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Construction cost Management : Learnings from case studies by

Keith Potts
AN EXAMPLE OF OPERATIONAL METHOD OF ESTIMATING
The question relates to the construction of a reinforced concrete basement (size 50
m 30 m 10 m deep) built below ground on a green field site. The contractors
estimator is required to calculate an appropriate BofQ rate. E326 Excavation for
foundations, material other than topsoil, rock or artificial hard material maximum
depth 510 m 15,000 m3
Approach: Consider two alternative construction methods.
Method A open cut with battered sides (assume total volume of excavation
equals 2.5 net volume) the open-cut method will require additional working space
to allow for erect and strip shutter to the outer face;
Method B steel cofferdam built around net perimeter of basement.
Assume the following net costs (based on quotations from subcontractors):

Excavation open cut 10 per m3;


Disposal on site 1 per m3;
Bring back and fill 2 per m3;
Excavation restricted within cofferdam 25 per m3;
Sheet piling (assume 15 m deep) 35 per m3;
Mobilization/demobilization-piling rig 5,000 each way;
Extract cofferdam piling 5,000;
Site overheads 10%, head office overheads and profit 12%.

Solutions

There are two solutions; costs involved as described in method A (open cut) and
costs
involved in method B (steel cofferdam) (see Figs 6.2 and 6.3); both are discussed in
detail in
the following sections.
Costs of method A (open cut)
Excavating in open cut 15,000 2.5 m3 37,500 m3 @ 10/m3 375,000
Disposal on site 37,50015,000 22,500 m3 @ 1/m3 22,500
Bring back and fill 22,500 m3 @ 2/m3 45,000
Total net cost 442,500
It is up to the contractor to select the most economic method of working. The
additional
excavation required is dependent on the nature of the ground and the natural slope
of
inclination generally the harder the material the steeper the slope.
Costs of method B (steel cofferdam)
Sheet piling mobilization/demob 2 5,000 10,000
Sheet piling 160 15 2,400 m2 @ 35/m2 84,000
Excavate within cofferdam 15,000 m3 @ 25/m3 375,000
Extract cofferdam 5,000
Total net cost 474,000

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