CHAPTER SIX

EARTHWORKS
6.1 Introduction

Earthwork operations are aimed at getting a compacted subgrade up to finished level with the
proper horizontal and vertical alignments, camber, grades, x-slopes, etc. The operation includes
the following basic stages:

(a) Site Clearance: This involves the removal of trees, bushes, stubs, and other objectionable
materials within the limit of the designated area, not necessarily within the entire right-of-
way.

(b) Grubbing: This is the removal of roots, shrubs, and other obstructions to a nominal shallow
depth to be decided by the engineer’s judgement based on field conditions.

Clearance and grubbing can be combined as one item or separated in road project. Bulldozer
with its various attachments is the machine commonly used in carrying out these operations.

(c) Disposal of Debris: The debris or unwanted materials removed from the designated area are
disposed-off properly in order to permit the commencement of earthmoving operation.

6.2 Earthmoving Operation

This involves cutting and filling operations that are required for excavation and embankment
constructions.

6.2.1 Excavation

This refers to the removal of soil in its various forms from its natural resting place and for
various purposes. Excavation could be:

i. Common excavation; which has to do with the removal and disposal of the common
soil.
ii. Rock excavation; i.e. the excavation, removal and disposal of boulders of about 0.5
m3 in volume and hard rock, which may require blasting.

In terms of cost, the rock excavation is more expensive than the common excavation
because of greater difficulty and technicalities involved. It is advisable for a contractor
bidding for a particular project that involves excavation job to visit the project site so as to

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 be able to have a reasonable estimate on the relative proportion (if any) of rock that may be
required.

Excavation can also be classified according to the purpose for which it is meant as follows:

(a) Roadway and Drainage Excavation: This involves the excavation of roadway and ditches
structures as well as the removal and disposal of all excavated materials some of which may
be required for later use, say in embankment construction.
(b) Structural Excavation: This refers to the excavation of soil materials in order to permit the
construction of structures such as culverts, foundation for bridges, retaining walls, etc.
(c) Burrow Excavation: This involves the digging of burrow pits from approved sites outsides
the limits of the right-of-way to supply additional suitable material for embankments
construction and other elements of roadway structure.

6.2.2 Embankment Construction

This refers to the filling processes required to raise the grade line of a roadway to some
desired height above the level of the existing ground surface in order to maintain allowable
design standards. It involves the filling in a relatively thin layers and rolling each layer to a
specific maximum dry density in the field. In-situ density checks at suitable intervals are
performed to confirm that the desired compaction level is attained.

As much as appreciable, the amounts of cuts and fills should be balanced so as to minimise
the amount of earthmoving operations.

6.2.3 Finishing Operations

These include such items as the trimming of shoulders, side slopes, ditches, and the fine-
grading operations to bring the sub-grade to the desired finished level. It also involves the
compaction and stabilization of cut sections by means of spraying with bituminous
materials, planting vegetation, concreting, to prevent materials from falling back.

6.3 Computation of Earthwork Quantity

Cross-section of earthwork for roadway in banking or in cutting is usually in the form of

trapezium, and the quantity of earthwork can be estimated using the method described below.
Figures 1 (a) and (b) show sections in banking and cutting, respectively. The quantity of
earthwork can be computed as follows:

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 Quantity or Volume = Sectional Area  Length

B Sd Sd

S:1 d S:1 d
S:1 S:1

Sd Sd B

(b) Cutting
(a) Banking

Figure 1: Sections in Banking and Cutting

Sectional area = Area of central rectangular section + Area of two triangular portions

1
= Bd + 2( Sd  d ) = Bd + Sd 2
2

S:1 is the ratio of the slopes as horizontal: vertical. For 1 vertical, horizontal is S, and for d
vertical, horizontal is Sd.

Quantity = ( Bd + Sd 2 )  L

When the ground is in longitudinal slope, the height of the bank or depth of cutting will be
different at the two ends of the section, and mean height or depth may be taken for ‘d’ and
sectional area at mid-section is taken out for mean height. Alternatively, sectional area at the
two ends may be calculated and the mean of the two sectional areas is taken out. Sectional area
at the mid-section or the mean sectional area, multiplied by the length gives the quantity. Figure
2 shows a situation where the ground is in longitudinal slope.

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 B

d2

B
d1

Figure 2: Ground in Longitudinal Slope

The mean height of the two end areas in Figure 2 is given as follows:

d1 + d 2
Mean height =
2

With reference to Figure 2, there are different methods used in determining the quantity or
volume of earthwork as follows:

6.3.1 Mean-sectional Area Method

Let d1 and d2 be the heights of bank at two ends portions of embankment respectively, L the
length of the section, B the formation width and S : 1 (horizontal : vertical) the side slope.
Using the method of mean-sectional area, the quantity of earthwork is determined as,

Quantity = Mean-sectional Area  Length

Sectional area at one end A1 = Bd1 + Sd12

Sectional area at the other end A2 = Bd2 + Sd2 2

Where d1 and d2 are the heights or depths at the two ends

A1 + A2
The mean sectional area Am =
2

 A + A2 
Quantity of Earthwork, Q =  1  L
 2 

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 When long section of a road is considered in the computation of the earthwork quantities,
the calculation is usually carried out in tabular form as follows:

Area of
central Area of Mean Length Quantity (Bd+Sd2)*L
Chainage Height or portion, sides, Total sectional sectional between
(m) Depth 'd' Bd Sd2 area Bd+Sd2 area chainages Embankment Cutting

6.3.2 Mid-sectional Area method

The method is based on determining the value of the mid-sectional area between the two
ends areas. Figure 3 shows a typical mid-sectional area between two ends of a section.

S:1 dm S:1

Sdm Sdm

Figure 3: Mid-sectional Area

d1 + d 2
With reference to the Figure 3, the mean height of end areas is, dm =
2

Hence, sectional area = Area of rectangular portion + Area of two triangular portions

1 1
= Bd m + Sd m + Sd m = Bd m + Sd m
2 2 2

2 2

 Quantity of earthwork = ( Bd m + Sd m )  L
2

Generally,

Q = ( Bd + Sd 2 )  L

Where, d stands for mean height or depth.

Quantities of earthwork involving long section of roadway can be computed in a tabular
form as follows:

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 Mean
height Area of
Quantity = (Bdm+Sdm2)*L
or central Area of Total Length
Chainage Height or depth, portion, sides, sectional area between
(m) Depth 'd' dm Bdm Sdm 2 Bdm+Sdm2 chainages Embankment Cutting

6.3.3 Prismodal Method

In this method, the quantity is computed as follows:

L
Quantity = ( A1 + A2 + 4 Am )
6

Where A1 and A2 are the cross-sectional areas at the two ends of a portion of embankment of
a road of length L, and Am is the mid-sectional area.

Let d1 and d2 be the heights of bank at the two ends, and dm be the mean height at the mid-
section, B be the formation width and S : 1 be the side slope.

Sectional area at one end:

A1 = Bd1 + Sd12

Sectional area at the other end:

A2 = Bd2 + Sd22

For sectional area at the middle, we need to find the height at the middle i.e dm.

d1 + d 2
dm =
2

d + d2   d1 + d 2 
2

Am = Bd m + Sd m = B 1  + S
2

 2   2 

The total quantity or volume of earthwork is then determined using A1, A2 and Am as;

L
Quantity = ( A1 + A2 + 4 Am )
6

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 Example 1
Estimate the quantity of earthwork for 125 metres length for a portion of a road with heights
of banks at the two ends being 1.00 m and 1.60 m. The formation width is 10 m and side
slopes 2 : 1 (horizontal : vertical).

Solution:
(a) Using Mean-sectional Area Method:

Sectional area at one end A1 = Bd1 + Sd12 = 10 1 + 2 12 = 12m 2

Sectional area at the other end A2 = Bd2 + Sd2 2 = 10 1.60 + 2 1.60 2 = 21.12m 2

A1 + A2 12 + 21.12
Mean-sectional area = = = 16.56m 2
2 2

Quantity of earthwork = mean sectional area x Length = 16.56 x 125 = 2079 m3

(b) Using Mid-sectional area method:

Quantity = ( Bd m + Sd m )  Length
2

d1 + d 2
dm = = 1.30m
2

Quantity = (10  1.30 + 2  1.30 2 )  125 = 2047 .50m 3

(c) Using Prismodal Method:

L
Quantity = ( A1 + A2 + 4 Am )
6

A1 = Bd1 + Sd1 = 10 1 + 2 12 = 12m 2

2

A2 = Bd2 + Sd2 = 10 1.60 + 2 1.60 2 = 21.12m 2

2

Am = Bd m + Sd m = 10  1.30 + 2  1.30 2 = 16.38m 2

2

125
 Quantity = (12 + 21.12 + 4  16.38) = 2055 m 3
6

Example 2
An embankment of a roadway 300 metres length was constructed in a project site. The
heights (h) of the bank at an interval of 25 metres are as shown in Table Q2. If the formation
width of the bank is 18.6 metres and the side slope is 2 : 1 (horizontal : vertical), determine

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 the volume of earthwork executed using mid-sectional area method. If a cubic metre of
earthwork costs N1725:00, how much will it cost to construct three banks of the same
geometry?

Table Q2
Chainage
0+000 0+025 0+050 0+075 0+100 0+125 0+150 0+175 0+200 0+225 0+250 0+275 0+300
(m)

h (m) 1.25 1.15 1.05 0.96 1.23 1.33 1.52 1.39 1.06 1.46 1.18 0.98 1.32

Solution: The computation of the earthwork quantity is as presented in Table Q2*

Table Q2*
Mean Quantity =
Area of Total Length
Height height Area of (Bdm+Sdm2)*L
Chainage central sectional between
or Depth or sides,
(m) portion, area, chainages
(m) depth, Sdm2 Embankment
Bdm Bdm+Sdm2 (m)
dm
0+000 1.25 * * * * * *
0+025 1.15 1.20 22.32 2.88 25.20 25.00 630.00
0+050 1.05 1.10 20.46 2.42 22.88 25.00 572.00
0+075 0.96 1.01 18.69 2.04 20.73 25.00 518.25
0+100 1.23 1.10 20.37 2.42 22.79 25.00 569.75
0+125 1.33 1.28 23.81 3.28 27.08 25.00 677.00
0+150 1.52 1.43 26.51 4.09 30.60 25.00 765.00
0+175 1.39 1.46 27.06 4.26 31.32 25.00 783.00
0+200 1.06 1.23 22.79 3.03 25.85 25.00 646.25
0+225 1.46 1.26 23.44 3.18 26.61 25.00 665.25
0+250 1.18 1.32 24.55 3.48 28.04 25.00 701.00
0+275 0.98 1.08 20.09 2.33 22.42 25.00 560.50
0+300 1.32 1.15 21.39 2.65 24.04 25.00 601.00
Total 7,689.00

Total Quantity of earthwork = 7,689.00 m3. The cost of constructing one embankment =
7,689.00 m3 * N1725:00 = N13, 263,525.00. Thus, it will cost N39, 790,575.00 to construct
three banks of equal geometry as the first one.

Exercise
Use the information in example 2 to compute the total volume of earthwork executed using
mean area method. Compare the estimated earthwork’s quantity from the two approaches.

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