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CUT AND FILL TUTORIAL

There are three methods for defining Existing and Proposed Cross Sections:
1. Manually input the coordinates from the user interface.
2. Import the coordinates from a text file.
3. Use a predefined template.
This tutorial shows you how to create a cut and fill calculation using the following coordinate information.
Cross section 1 at chainage – 0m
Existing cross section Proposed cross section
Ref. Offset (m) Level (m) Offset (m) Level (m)
1 -4.000 100.500 -4.000 100.500
2 -2.000 100.650 -3.000 100.200
3 0.000 100.500 3.500 100.200
4 2.000 100.400 4.000 100.700
5 4.000 100.700

Cross section 2 at chainage – 10m

Existing cross section Proposed cross section
Ref. Offset (m) Level (m) Offset (m) Level (m)
1 -4.000 100.500 -4.000 100.500
2 -2.000 100.600 -3.000 100.300
3 0.000 100.750 3.500 100.300
4 2.000 100.550 4.000 100.600
5 4.000 100.600

Cross section 3 at chainage – 20m

Existing cross section Proposed cross section
Ref. Offset (m) Level (m) Offset (m) Level (m)
1 -4.000 100.500 -4.000 100.500
2 -2.000 100.400 -3.000 100.650
3 0.000 100.450 3.500 100.650
4 2.000 100.550 4.000 100.600
5 4.000 100.600
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1. Manually input coordinates – Example 1

1.1. Start a new Cut and fill calculation. You should now be looking at the main page of the user interface from where you
can access all the different parts of the calculation and review any information you have entered already.

1.2. You now need to enter the coordinates for cross section 1. Click the Add… button to add a new cross section.
1.3. You should now be looking at the Edit coordinates page. This page lets you add, edit and delete coordinates for the
selected cross section. Enter an Offset of -4.000m and a Level of 100.500m for coordinate 1. To create the second
coordinate click the Add… button and enter an Offset of 4.000m and a Level of 100.700m then click OK to return to the
edit coordinates page. A line will be drawn between the two coordinates you have defined.
1.4. To edit an existing coordinate select the coordinate to edit using the droplist and amend the Offset and Level values as
appropriate. To add further coordinates click Add… and enter the Offset and Level values. You can enter coordinates
in any order and the calculation will automatically order them according to the Offset value. If you enter two coordinates
at the same Offset, for example to define a kerb, you can use the Swap… button to reorder the coordinates as
required.
1.5. Add the remaining coordinates for cross section 1. Offset -2.000m, Level 100.650m; Offset 0.000m, Level 100.500m;
Offset 2.000m, Level 100.400m.
1.6. Your cross section should now look similar to the following:
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1.7. Use the droplist to switch from editing the Existing coordinates to editing the Proposed coordinates. Now add the
proposed coordinates for cross section 1. Offset -4.000m, Level 100.500m; Offset 4.000m, Level 100.700m
1.8. Once you have entered all of the coordinates for the proposed cross section you will notice that the cut and fill areas
are included in the diagram. This is because the start and end Offset values of the Existing and Proposed cross section
are equal.
1.9. Try changing the Level of Proposed coordinate 1, note that because the Offset is still the same as existing coordinate 1
the calculation will continue to calculate the cut and fill areas. This can be useful if you want to incorporate a retaining
wall or similar to the edges. Change the value back to its original position and add the remaining proposed coordinates.
Offset -3.000m, Level 100.200m; Offset 3.500m, Level 100.200m. When you have finished entering the coordinates
click OK to return to the main page of the user interface.
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1.10.The main page will now show you the cross section diagram and the calculated cut and fill areas. If you need to review
the coordinates for this section click the Coord table… button.
1.11.To define the next cross section click the Add… button. The chainage of the section will default to 10m which you can
amend as required. The shrinkage factor of the soil can also now be amended. These values are used to calculate the
volume of soil for all the cross sections as the soil will either shrink when compacting or bulk when excavating. Typical
values are shown in the information box. For this example enter a shrinkage factor of 0.9.
1.12.Continue to enter the cross section coordinates for cross section 2 and click OK to return to the main page.
1.13.Select section 2 and the buttons to Add or Insert a new cross section will be enabled. Clicking Add… will create a new
section after all the currently defined sections and clicking Insert… will insert a new cross section before the selected
cross section.
1.14.Click Add… to add a third cross section and enter the coordinates for cross section 3. Also enter a shrinkage factor of
0.9 and then return to the main page.
1.15.You have now completed your design and can view any of the cross sections and the associated results. You can also
view the table of cumulative volume (the Quantity Distribution Table) of soil for all the cross sections by clicking the
Volume table… button. The volume is calculated using the ‘Volumes by end areas’ method. This can be expressed as
the average of two cross sectional areas multiplied by the distance between them.
1.16.Note that even though you entered a shrinkage factor of 0.9 for cross sections 2 and 3 it is only applied to cut areas.
The existing and proposed levels are taken at an offset of 0m, which can be changed in the Options page.
2. Import from a text file – Example 2
2.1. In the first example you entered the cross sections manually. You will now produce the same information by importing a
text file. When you write a text file to be imported by the Cut and fill calculation you must ensure that it is formatted
correctly so all the variables are imported.

To import cross sections the data must be formatted as coordinate pairs in a comma separated list that includes the
appropriate units. For example a proposed cross section has the following format:

Proposed_{m} = “x1,y1,x2,y2,…xn,yn”
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Where m is the section number, x1 and y1 are the first coordinate pair and xn and yn are the n’th coordinate pair, each
with the appropriate units.
2.2. Using the format described above create a text file which defines the profiles for all three sections in the previous
exercise and save the file to disk noting its location. You should end up with something like the following:

2.3. Start a new Cut and fill calculation. From the main page click the Import/Export… button.
2.4. To import the text file you created enter the file name including the full path and file extension and click Import. The file
path can be copied and pasted into the edit box from Windows Explorer.
2.5. Once the file has been imported the option to set the chainage will be enabled. Enter a Section interval of 10m from
chainage 0m and click Apply. You should now have a page that looks like this

2.6. Click the Calculate button to calculate the cut and fill areas which will then be shown under the appropriate headings.
You will notice that a warning message appears telling you that the calculation may take sometime. The TEDDS
Progress Log will show which section is being calculated and the results for each section once it has completed its
calculations.
2.7. Click OK to return to the main page.
2.8. Review all the cross sections and the tables which should be the same as the previous exercise.
2.9. You can also export data from the calculation. Click Import/Export… In the Export group enter the file name including
the full path and file extension where you want to export your data. Click Export to save the file.
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2.10.Using Windows Explorer locate the file you have exported and open it using Windows Notepad. You should notice the
text file includes a few more lines which specify the chainage and the cut and fill areas.

The export button can be used at any time, for example if you have entered your coordinates manually and want to
change the offset values for all your cross sections from 3m to 2m you may find it quicker to export the coordinates
amend them using an external text editor such as Notepad and then import the coordinates back into your calculation.
3. Defining a template – Example 3
3.1. The final method for defining cross sections is to use a template. A template can only be defined for a proposed cross
section so the existing cross section must be defined using one of the methods described in the pervious examples. In
this example you will use the text file you exported in example 2.
3.2. Open the text file you created in example 2 and delete all the information apart from the existing profile data. Save the
file with a new file name.
3.3. Start a new Cut and fill calculation, import the file you saved in the previous step and then return to the main interface
page.
3.4. Click Templates… to show the template page.

3.5. Now click Template… which will show the page where you can select a predefined template for a single carriageway,
dual carriageway, cutting/embankment or a trench.

Using the carriageway and cutting embankment templates you can define the appropriate widths and the gradient of
the left and right slopes. These slopes are used by the calculation to determine intersection coordinates with the
existing ground level. These gradients should be entered as positive values because the calculation will determine if the
slopes are positive or negative. The extents of the existing coordinates must lie beyond or at the start of the slopes in
order for the sections to be valid because the calculation does not allow any overhangs. If this does happen the
calculation will warn you so that you can amend the design appropriately. However if the extents are beyond the start of
the slopes the point at which the slope intersects the existing ground will be determined and the area calculated on that
basis. If the existing ground does not extend as far as the intersection points the slope will finish with the same offset as
the existing profile mimicking a retaining wall or similar.

In the case of the trench the existing profile must be beyond the width of the trench.
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3.6. For this example select a cutting/embankment with a base width of 3000mm and left and right slopes to a gradient of 1
to 1. Click OK to return to the template page.
3.7. Once you have selected the template to use you need to enter the level. You can specify a longitudinal fall or rise and
an offset distance. In this example enter a 1/100 longitudinal rise starting from a level of 100.500m.
3.8. Finally click Apply to create the proposed cross sections based on the template parameters you have defined.
3.9. You can now review the cross sections by returning to the main page. Once you have done this return to the template
page, click Calculate and wait for the calculations to complete. If all the sections are valid the cut and fill areas will be
shown in the preview window. You can now return to the main page and see each of the sections in detail.
3.10.The calculation has automatically determined the direction of the slopes at either end. Now you can view all the
calculation results as per normal.
3.11.Click Edit… to change the level or offset for cross section 1. Select the Proposed cross section and click the
Template… button. You can now amend the template level to 100.300m and an offset of 0.5m. Return to the main
page and the calculation will automatically reapply the template and determine the new areas.
3.12.To change the shrinkage factor globally click the Options… button and enter a shrinkage value of 0.9.
3.13.Review and output the calculation to your document when you are happy with the results.