Estimating Excavation

Product Details

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.

From the Back Cover:
Estimating excavation is hard and don't let anyone tell you otherwise. First, you're dealing with material that's largely hidden from view. You don't know what's down there until you start digging. Second, you're dependent on costly machines that can break down at any time. Third, your production depends on employees who operate the machines—employees whose performance can change from day to day. But there are techniques you can use to minimize those risks and maximize your chances of making a decent profit from any job you estimate.

That's the purpose of Estimating Excavation. It shows you, in simple, easy-to-understand language, how to calculate the amount of dirt you'll have to move, the cost of owning and operating the machines you'll do it with, and finally, how to assign bid prices to each part of the job.

The heart of every earthwork estimate is calculating the cubic yards you'll have to move. This book covers quantity estimating in detail, then explains how to assign labor and equipment costs per yard:

-How to set up and use an organized and logical estimating system,
-How to read plans and specs,
-Why a site visit is mandatory,
-How to assess accessibility and job difficulty,
-How soil characteristics can affect your estimate, -The best ways to evaluate subsurface conditions,
-Figuring your overhead,
-How to get the information you need from contour maps,
-When you have to undercut,
-Dealing with irregular regions and odd areas,
-Factors for estimating swell and shrinkage,
-Balancing the job: spoil and borrow,
-Calculating machine owning and operating costs, and The two common methods of estimating earthwork quantities
-Of course, some of the quantity estimating methods are complex, but, using clear, detailed illustrations and examples, the author makes it easy to follow and duplicate his system.

About the Author
Deryl Burch has worked over 25 years in the construction industry, starting out as a laborer learning on the jobsite and progressing until he was estimating jobs ranging from single-family homes to major highway and utility projects.
Besides being a partner and estimator in an engineering consulting company, he has prepared estimates and bid jobs for the firm of Howard, Needles, Tammen & Bergendorf, one of the largest construction consulting firms in the world; for the Missouri State Highway Department, for the City of Fayetteville, Arkansas, and for Marion County, Kansas.

Table of Contents
1: Get Started Right; 2: The Site Visit; Chapter 3: Properties of Soils; Chapter 4: Area Take-off by Plan and Profile; Chapter 5: Reading Contour Maps; Chapter 6: Area Take-off from a Topo Map; Chapter 7: Irregular Regions and Cold Areas; Chapter 8: Using Shrink and Swell Factors; Chapter 9: Topsoil, Slopes and Ditches; Chapter 10: Basements, Footings; Chapter 11: All About Spoil and Borrow; Chapter 12: Balance Points, Centers of Mass and Haul Distances; Chapter 13: Earthmoving Equipment: Productivity Rates and Owning and Operating Costs; Chapter 14: A Sample Take-off; Chapter 15: Costs and Final Bid for the Sample Estimate; Blank Worksheets; Index.