Earthwork Volume Calculator

Earthwork volume is the amount of soil that must be cut (excavated) or filled (placed as embankment) to bring a site from its existing grade to a designed finish grade. This calculator applies the Average End Area method, the standard technique civil engineers and surveyors use to estimate volume between two surveyed cross-sections along a roadway, pad, or trench alignment: Volume = (Area 1 + Area 2) / 2 x Segment Length. Multiplying by the Number of Segments extends the same average across a longer run of stations that share similar cross-sections -- for an alignment where the cross-section changes shape significantly from station to station, calculate each segment separately rather than reusing one pair of end areas. The Average End Area method is an approximation: because it assumes the cross-sectional area transitions in a straight line between the two end sections, it can overstate volume where the true transition is more like a wedge or a pyramid (for example, a short ramp cut into a corner), where the more exact prismoidal formula would return a smaller figure.

This calculator also applies a swell adjustment for cut material -- excavated soil loses its natural in-place compaction and bulks up in volume, commonly by roughly a quarter for ordinary earth, so a bank-measure cut volume converts to a larger loose volume once it's loaded onto trucks. Fill material is left unadjusted here since it is typically re-compacted at the point of placement rather than hauled loose. The Truck Loads and Estimated Cost outputs are planning-level approximations only: Estimated Cost applies a flat placeholder rate of $5 per cubic yard for cut and $8 per cubic yard for fill (fill costs more per yard here because it accounts for compaction effort that cut does not need), and actual haul-truck capacity and unit pricing vary by region, hauler, and soil type, so confirm both rates with your contractor or hauler before bidding a job.