Earthwork Volume Calculator
Units
Average several spot depths on uneven ground
Tandem dump truck: about 10–14 yd³
Excavation
88.9 yd³ in the ground
- Loose, to haul
- 111.1 yd³
- Truckloads
- 10
- Weight
- 120 US tons
- As compacted fill
- 80.0 yd³
Common earth / loam swells about 25% when dug, so the 88.9 yd³ you excavate fills trucks as 111.1 yd³. Compacted back into place it shrinks to about 80.0 yd³; to fill a hole of the same size you need about 98.8 yd³ of bank material.
2,400 ft³ · 68.0 m³
Swell, shrink and weight factors are typical values; moisture and compaction change them, so check with your hauler or a soils report for large jobs. Trucks often fill by weight before volume with heavy soils.
Calculate the volume of an excavation and what it becomes when dug, hauled and compacted: bank, loose and compacted cubic yards or meters, truckloads and weight, using typical swell and shrink factors for topsoil, earth, clay, sand and rock.
Formula
Worked Example
2,400 ft³ ÷ 27 = 88.9 bank cubic yards. Loam swells about 25% when dug, so it fills trucks as 111.1 yd³, and compacted back into place it shrinks to about 80 yd³.
Frequently Asked Questions
What are swell and shrinkage in earthwork?
Soil in the ground (bank) is denser than dug soil (loose), which takes up more space, typically 10–15% more for sand and gravel, 25% for common earth, 30–40% for clay and 50% or more for blasted rock. Compacted into a fill, soil ends up denser than in the ground, so you need more bank material than the hole you are filling.
How many cubic yards fit in a dump truck?
A tandem-axle dump truck carries about 10–14 loose cubic yards and a tri-axle 16–18, but heavy material such as wet clay or rock usually reaches the legal weight limit before the box is full.
How do I find the average depth on sloping ground?
Measure the cut depth at several evenly spaced points and average them. For large sites, engineers use a grid of spot elevations or cross-sections and the average-end-area method.