Construction Methods

110401542

1. Earthmoving Materials
and Operations
Dr. Khaled Hyari
Department of Civil Engineering
Hashemite University

Earthmoving

• Earthmoving: The process of moving soil or

rock from one location to another and
processing it so that it meets construction
requirements of location, elevation, density,
moisture content, etc.
• Activities Involved:
– Excavating
– Loading
– Hauling
– Placing (Dumping and Spreading)
– Compacting
– Grading and Finishing 1-٢

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 Earthmoving II

• Earthmoving Management:
– Accurate estimating of work quantities and job
conditions
– Proper selection of equipment
– Competent job management

• Equipment Selection:
– What are the factors that affect equipment
selection?

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Earthmoving III

• Factors that affect equipment selection:

– First: the ability of the equipment to

perform the required work
– Maximizing return on investment
– Possible future use
– Impact on other construction equipment
and operations

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 Production of Earthmoving Equipment

• What are the “units” of production rates for

earthmoving equipment?
• What does the concept of “cycle” mean?

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Production of Earthmoving Equipment II

• Production = Volume per cycle × Cycles per hour
– Volume per cycle: Average volume of material
moved per equipment cycle
– Cycles per hour: Number of cycles actually
achieved (or expected to be achieved) per hour
– Fill factor and job efficiency factor
• Cost per unit of production = Equipment cost per
hour / Equipment production per hour
• Assume we have a 10m3 truck. It takes 10 minutes
to move soil from one location to another. How do
you fit these numbers into the equation?

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 Production of Earthmoving Equipment III

• Job efficiency factor = number of working

minutes per hour / 60

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Production of Earthmoving Equipment IV

• Example:
A loader cycle time for loading a truck is
12 minutes. Each load is 3 m3 . Estimate
loader production assuming poor job
conditions and fair management
conditions

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 Production of Earthmoving Equipment V

• Solution:

Production = Volume per cycle × Cycles per

hour × Job efficiency factor
Production = 3 m3 x (60/12) x 0.57 = 8.55 m3/hr

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Earthmoving Materials
• Soil and rock are the materials that make up the
crust of the earth

• General Soil Characteristics

– Trafficability: is the ability of a soil to support
the weight of vehicles under repeated traffic
– Loadability: is a measure of the difficulty in
excavating and loading a soil
– Unit soil weight
– Moisture content: A percentage that represents
the weight of water in the soil divided by the dry
weight of the Soil
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 Soil Volume-Change Characteristics

• Soil Conditions
– Bank: Material in its natural state before
disturbance (in place)
• Unit volume is Bank Cubic Meter (BCM)

– Loose: Material that has been excavated or

loaded
• Unit volume is Loose Cubic Meter (LCM)

– Compacted: Material after compaction

• Unit volume is Compacted Cubic Meter (CCM)
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Soil Volume-Change Characteristics II

• Swell: An increase in the volume of soil

when it is excavated because the soil
grains are loosened during excavation
and air fills the void spaces created
• 1 m3 in place (bank condition) occupies >
1m3 after excavation (loose condition)

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 Soil Volume-Change Characteristics III

Example 2-1

• Find the swell of a soil that weights 1661kg/m3 in

its natural state and 1186 kg/m3 after excavation

What does this mean?

1 BCM will turn into how many LCM??

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Soil Volume-Change Characteristics IV

• Shrinkage: A decrease in the volume of

soil when it is compacted because some
of the air is forced out of the soil’s void
spaces
• The soil will occupy less volume than
it did under either the bank or loose
condition

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 Soil Volume-Change Characteristics V

Example 2-2
• Find the shrinkage of a soil that weights
1661 kg/m3 in its natural state and 2077
kg/m3 after compaction

What does this mean?

1 BCM will be ……….. CCM 1 - ١٥

Soil Volume-Change Characteristics VI

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 Soil Volume-Change Characteristics VII

It means that:

Example 1: 1 BCM will expand to 1.4 LCM

after excavation
• Example 2: 1 BCM will shrink to 0.8 CCM
when compacted

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Soil Volume-Change Characteristics VIII

• Load factor
– Used to convert loose volume to bank
volume

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 Soil Volume-Change Characteristics IX

• Shrinkage factor
– Converts bank volume to compacted
volume

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Soil Volume-Change Characteristics X

Example
• A soil weights 1163 kg/LCM, 1661
kg/BCM, and 2077 kg/CCM

a. Find the load factor and shrinkage factor for

the soil
b. How many Bank Cubic Meters (BCM) and
Compacted Cubic Meters (CCM) are contained
in 593,300 LCM of this soil

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 Soil Volume-Change Characteristics XI

Solution

Bank volume = 593,300 × 0.7 = 415,310 BCM

Compacted volume = 415,310 × 0.8 = 332,248 CCM

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Soil Volume-Change Characteristics XII

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 Soil Volume-Change Characteristics XIII

• Problem 8
A soil weights 1483 kg/m3 loose, 1839
kg/m3 in its natural state, and 2106 kg/m3
compacted. Find the soil’s load factor and
shrinkage factor

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Soil Volume-Change Characteristics XIV

Solution
Load factor = weight in loose unit volume
weight in bank unit volume

Load factor = 1483 /1839 = 0.806

Shrinkage factor = weight in bank volume

weight in compacted volume

Shrinkage factor = 1839/2106 = 0.87

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 Spoil Banks

• Spoil bank: The pile of material that is created

by its removal from the excavation if the pile is
long relative to its width
– Characterized by Triangular cross section

• Spoil pile: The pile of material that is created by

its removal from the excavation when the
material is dumped from a fixed position
– Characterized by Conical shape
• To determine spoil banks dimensions, we need
to convert the volume of excavation from Bank
conditions to Loose conditions: BCM to LCM
– Why it is needed?
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Spoil Banks II
• Angle of repose: Is the angle that the sides of a
spoil bank or pile naturally form with the
horizontal when the excavated soil is dumped
onto the pile
–Represents the equilibrium position of the soil
–Varies with the soil’s physical characteristics
and its moisture content

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 Spoil Banks III

• Triangular Spoil Bank

Volume = Section area × Length

• B = base width (m)

• H = pile height (m)
• L = pile length (m)
• R = angle of repose (deg)
• V = pile volume (m3)

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Spoil Banks IV

• Conical Spoil Pile

Volume = (1/3) × Base area × Height

D = diameter of the pile base (m)

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 Spoil Banks V

• Example:
Find the base width and height of a
triangular spoil bank containing 76.5 BCM
if the pile length is 9.14 m, the soil’s angle
of repose is 37°, and its swell is 25%

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Spoil Banks VI

Solution:

Loose volume = 76.5 × 1.25 = 95.6 m3

Base width = [ (4 × 95.6) ÷ (9.14 × tan 37) ]1/2

= 7.45 m

Height = (7.45 / 2) × tan 37 = 2.8 m

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 Spoil Banks VII

• Example:
Find the base diameter and height of a
conical spoil pile that will contain 76.5
BCM of excavation if the soil’s angle of
repose is 32 and its swell is 12%

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Spoil Banks VIII

Solution:

Loose volume = 76.5 × 1.12 = 85.7 m3

Base diameter = D = [ (7.64 × 85.7) ÷ tan 32 ]1/3

= 10.16 m

H = (10.16/2) × tan 32 = 3.17 m

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 Estimating Earthwork Volume

• Pit Excavations (Small, relatively deep

excavations such as those needed for basements
and foundations)
• Trench Excavations for utility lines
• Excavating or Grading Relatively Large Areas

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Estimating Earthwork Volume II

• Pit Excavation:
– Volume = Horizontal Area of Excavation x
Average Depth of Excavation

Example 2-6:
Estimate the volume of excavation required (bank
measure) for the basement shown below

1.8 m 2.5 m= depth at this corner

9.15 m

7.63 m

1.8 m 2.3 m
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 Estimating Earthwork Volume III

Solution:

Volume = Horizontal area × average depth

= (9.15 × 7.63) × [(1.8 + 2.5 + 2.3 + 1.8 ) / 4]

=146.6 BCM

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Estimating Earthwork Volume IV

• Trench Excavation
– Volume = Cross-Sectional Area x Length of
the Trench

Example 2-7:
Find the volume (bank measure) of
excavation required for a trench 0.92 m
wide, 1.83 m deep and 152 m long

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 Estimating Earthwork Volume V

Solution:

Volume = Cross-sectional area × length

= (0.92 × 1.83) × 152

= 255 BCM

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Estimating Earthwork Volume VI

• Large Areas:
– Divide the large area into a grid
– Indicate the depth of excavation or fill at each
grid intersection
– Assign the depth at each corner or segment
intersection a weight according to its location:
• 1 for corner points
• 2 for border points (intersection of 2
segments)
• 4 for interior points (intersection of 4
segments)
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 Estimating Earthwork Volume VII

• Calculate average depth =

Sum (depth × weights)
Sum (weights)

= [sum corner points depths ×1 + sum border

points depths ×2 + sum interior points depths
×4] / sum (weights)

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Estimating Earthwork Volume VIII

• Example 2-8: Find the volume of excavation required
for the area shown below

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 Estimating Earthwork Volume IX

Solution:

Corner pts: 1.83 + 1.04 + 0.61 + 1.22 = 4.7 m

Border pts: 1.77 + 1.59 + 1.4 + 0.92 + 0.85 + 0.92 +

1.07 + 1.46 + 1.46 + 1.68 = 13.12

Interior pts: 1.52 + 1.4 + 1.28 + 1.1 + 1.22 + 1.49

= 8.01

Sum of weights = 4 + 10 × 2 + 6 × 4 = 48
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Estimating Earthwork Volume X

Average depth = [sum corner points depths ×1 +

sum border points depths ×2 + sum interior
points depths ×4] / sum (weights)

= 4.7 ×1 + 13.12 ×2 + 8.01 ×4 / 48 = 1.31 m

Volume = (91.4 × 121.9) × 1.31 = 14596 BCM

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 Estimating Earthwork Volume XI

• Example (problem 2):

A 305-m long pipeline requires an
excavation 1.2 m wide to an average
depth of 1.5 m. If the soil is dry common
earth, what size spoil bank will be created
by the excavation?

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Estimating Earthwork Volume XII

Volume = section area × length
= (1.2 × 1.5) × 305 × 1.25 = 686.25 LCM

B = [ 4 V ÷ (L × tan R) ]1/2

= [ 4 × 686.25 ÷ (305 × tan 32) ]1/2

= 3.8 m
H = (B × tan R ) ÷ 2

= (3.8 × tan 32 ) ÷ 2

= 1.19 m
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 Estimating Earthwork Volume XIII

• Example
A ditch having a cross-sectional area of
4.6 m2 is being excavated in common
earth. The soil’s angle of repose is 35° and
its swell is 25%. Find the height and width
of the spoil bank that will result from trench
excavation

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Estimating Earthwork Volume XIV

• Solution:

Cross-sectional area = 4.6 m2; angle of repose = 35 ; swell

= 25%
Volume = section area × Length
= 4.6 × 1 × 1.25 = 5.75 LCM

B = [ 4 V ÷ L × tan R ]1/2 = [4 × 5.75 / (1 × tan35) ]1/2

= 5.73 m

H = (B × tan R ) ÷ 2 = (5.73 × tan 35 ) ÷ 2 = 2 m

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 Mass Diagram

• Mass Diagram: A continuous curve

representing the accumulated volume of
earthwork plotted against the linear profile
of a roadway or airfield
• Prepared by designers to assist in selecting
the alignment that minimizes the earthwork
required to construct the facility while
satisfying established design requirements
of roadway grade and curvature

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Mass Diagram II
Typical Mass Diagram

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 Mass Diagram III
• Characteristics:
– The vertical coordinate of the mass diagram represents
the cumulative earthwork volume from the origin to that
point
– Within a cut, the curve rises from left to right
– Within a fill, the curve falls from left to right
– A peak on the curve represents a point where the
earthwork changes from cut to fill
– A Valley (low point) represents a point where the
earthwork changes from fill to cut
– When a horizontal line intersects the curve at two or more
points, the accumulated volumes at these points are
equal. (Balance Line)
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Mass Diagram IV

• Information that can be obtained from Mass

Diagram:
– The length and direction of hall within a balanced
section
– The average length of haul for a balanced section
– The location and amount of Borrow (material
hauled in from a borrow pit) for the project
– The location and amount of Waste (material
hauled away to a waste area) for the project

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 Mass Diagram V
Construction Use of a Mass Diagram
This image cannot currently be display ed.

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Mass Diagram VI

• Obtaining information from Mass Diagram:

– For a balanced section (section 1), project the
end points of the section up to the profile (points
A & B). These points identify the limits of the
balanced section
– Locate point C on the profile that corresponds to
a turning point in the mass diagram (change from
fill to cut)
– Areas of cut and fill can be identified on the
profile
– The direction of haul within a balanced section is
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 Mass Diagram VII
– Repeat this process for sections 2,3, and 4
– Since the mass diagram has a negative value
from point D to the end, the ordinate at point E
represents the volume of material that needs to
be borrowed (38,230 BCM)
– Average haul distance within a balanced section
is approximately the length of the horizontal line
located midway between the balance line and the
turning point of the section (For section 1, length
of line FG = 549 meters)

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