Earthwork Cut-Fill Balance Calculator
Enter the cut, fill, reuse percentage, shrinkage, swell, and truck capacity. The calculator shows whether reusable onsite cut covers the compacted fill and how much material must be imported or exported.
Earthwork balanceExports 138.9 LCY after satisfying reusable fill.
- Reusable cut, BCY
- 900
- Compacted fill yield, CCY
- 810
- Onsite cut used, BCY
- 888.89
- Unsuitable cut to export, BCY
- 100
- Surplus suitable cut, BCY
- 11.11
- Borrow required, BCY
- 0
- Loose export volume, LCY
- 138.89
- Loose import volume, LCY
- 0
- Export truckloads
- 12
- Import truckloads
- 0
Haul summary
| Movement | Bank volume (BCY) | Loose volume (LCY) | Truckloads |
|---|---|---|---|
| Export | 111.11 | 138.89 | 12 |
| Import | 0 | 0 | 0 |
Volumes are shown in yd3 with bank, compacted, and loose states kept separate.
Truckloads are rounded up because any positive partial load still requires a trip.
How to use this calculator
- Choose cubic yards or cubic meters and use that unit consistently for every volume.
- Enter bank cut and required compacted fill from the grading takeoff.
- Estimate the reusable share of cut and the shrinkage and swell factors for that material.
- Enter practical loose truck capacity, then review borrow, export, and load counts.
How the balance is calculated
Earthwork quantities have to stay in the right volume state. Cut is usually measured as bank volume in place, fill is specified as compacted volume after placement, and hauling is planned with loose volume in the truck. This calculator keeps those states separate so equal-looking cut and fill numbers do not hide a borrow or waste problem.
Let C be available bank cut, F be required compacted fill, u be the reusable fraction of cut, s be shrinkage, w be swell, and T be loose truck capacity. The reusable bank cut is:
Rb = C x u
The unsuitable bank cut is Ub = C x (1 - u). Reusable material produces compacted fill of Rc = Rb x (1 - s). The bank cut needed to make the required compacted fill is N = F / (1 - s), so onsite bank cut used is min(Rb, N).
If reusable cut exceeds what the fill can accept, surplus suitable bank cut is max(0, Rb - N). If the compacted fill requirement exceeds the onsite yield, the compacted deficit is max(0, F - Rc), and borrow bank volume is that deficit divided by 1 - s.
Import, export, and truckloads
Export combines unsuitable cut and surplus suitable cut, then converts bank volume to loose volume with swell:
Le = (Ub + surplus) x (1 + w)
Import applies the same loose conversion to required borrow:
Li = borrow x (1 + w)
Truckloads are ceil(loose volume / T). Any positive remainder becomes another trip, because a fractional load still has to leave or arrive on a truck.
What moves the result most
The reusable percentage usually drives whether the project imports material, exports material, or does both. Shrinkage drives how much bank cut is needed to make compacted fill. Swell does not change the earthwork balance in place, but it can change haul quantities and truck counts substantially.
What this calculator leaves out
This is a planning calculation for one reusable material with one shrink and swell pair. It does not decide whether soil is suitable, model separate strata, account for stripping, stockpile losses, moisture conditioning, payload weight limits, staged grading, or contractual pay quantity rules. Use project geotechnical data, agency factors, test fills, and field records where they are available.
Worked example
Suppose a site has 1,000 BCY of cut and needs 800 CCY of compacted fill. If 90% of cut is reusable, reusable bank cut is 1,000 x 0.90 = 900 BCY and unsuitable cut is 100 BCY.
With 10% shrinkage, the onsite reusable cut yields 900 x 0.90 = 810 CCY. The fill only needs 800 / 0.90 = 888.89 BCY of bank cut, so onsite cut used is 888.89 BCY and surplus suitable cut is 11.11 BCY. Borrow is 0 BCY.
The export bank volume is 100 + 11.11 = 111.11 BCY. With 25% swell, loose export is 138.89 LCY. At 12 LCY per truck, export truckloads are ceil(138.89 / 12) = 12. The project exports material after satisfying reusable fill.
Common questions
What is the difference between BCY, LCY, and CCY?
BCY is bank cubic yards, the volume of soil in place before excavation. LCY is loose cubic yards after excavation and swelling. CCY is compacted cubic yards after the material is placed and compacted in the fill.
Why can equal cut and fill volumes still require imported soil?
Cut and fill may be reported in different volume states. A bank volume usually shrinks when compacted into fill, and some cut may be unsuitable for reuse. Equal raw numbers can still leave a compacted-fill deficit once reuse and shrinkage are applied.
How do swell and shrinkage affect truckloads?
Shrinkage affects how much bank material is needed to make compacted fill. Swell affects hauled volume after excavation. Truckloads are based on loose volume, so a higher swell factor increases import or export trips even when the bank quantity is unchanged.
How should unsuitable soil or stripped topsoil be handled?
Put material that cannot be accepted as fill into the unsuitable share unless it is already excluded from the cut quantity. Stripped topsoil, organic soil, wet material, contaminated soil, or separately paid waste may need its own scenario or project-specific handling.
Can different factors be used for onsite soil and imported borrow?
This calculator uses one shrinkage and swell pair for both onsite reusable material and imported borrow. If borrow has different density, moisture, swell, or compaction behavior, run a separate scenario or adjust the borrow quantity outside this simple balance.