Excavation

Swell and Shrinkage of Excavated Materials

When building a house you are going to deal with 3 stages of the soil volume you are excavating.

Bank Volume, natural state of the soil.
Loose Volume, disturbed state of the soil.
Compacted Volume, volume of the soil after it is compacted.

The change from bank to loose volume is the swell of the excavated material
The change from bank to compacted is the shrink of the excavated material

Bank-----------Swell------------Loose
Bank-----------Shrink-----------Compacted

If you need to remove the excavated material it would help to know the swell percentage for the soil you are excavating. The volume of excavated soil will increase from its natural state(bank) to its disturbed state (loose). Excavating soil and piling it up will loosen it and the volume will increase due to void spaces/air pockets added to the material. If you are excavating an area with a volume of 200 cubic yards consisting of material with a 40% swell, you are actually looking at removing 280 cubic yards. At an average of 12 cubic yards hauling capacity of a truck, you are looking at an additional 6 to 7 truck loads. With larger excavations the cost due to swell can be significant and will add to your needed excavating budget.

The shrink percentage of the soil is useful for determining the amount of material that you need to keep on site for grading and back filling. If the 200 cubic yards of material had a shrink percentage of -10 and you would need to grade or back fill an area with a volume of 90 cubic yards then you would need to keep 100 cubic yards in bank volume of the material and now you would have to haul 140 cubic yards of site.

The Calculator

enter the length of the excavation(feet)
enter the width of the excavation (feet)
enter the excavation depth (feet and inches)for uneven depth calculate the average depth
swell of material (in percentage)
shrinkage of material (in percentage)
the amount of material that you can use on site and will be compacted(if needed, in cubic yards)
the amount of material one truckload can hold (in cubic yards)

The Results

bank volume of material that needs to be excavated in cubic yards
loose volume of excavated material in cubic yards
compacted volume of material in cubic yards
the number of truck loads it will take to remove not needed material of site. It will round off the number of loads to the highest number and you could end up with small amount of material in the final truck load.

Material	Swell/Bulking %	Shrink %	Source
Adobe	35	-10	Church (1981)
Andesite	67	43	(FHWA 2007)
Andesite	67	33	Church (1981)
Ashes, Coal	33	-50	Church (1981)
Basalt	64	36	(FHWA 2007)
Basalt	64	36	Church (1981)
Basalt	60	35	Quality Control In Earthwork Operations
Basalt	64	36	Durham University Community
Breccia	33	27	(FHWA 2007)
Breccia	33	27	Church (1981)
Caliche	16	-25	(FHWA 2007)
Caliche	16	-25	Church (1981)
Chalk	50	33	(FHWA 2007)
Chalk	50	33	Church (1981)
Chalk	50	-3	Durham University Community
Cinders	33	-10	(FHWA 2007)
Cinders	33	-10	Church (1981)
Clay (High Pi)	40	-11	Durham University Community
Clay Damp	67	-10	(FHWA 2007)
Clay, Damp	40	-10	Church (1981)
Clay, Damp	40	-10	Quality Control In Earthwork Operations
Clay, Dry	50	-10	(FHWA 2007)
Clay, Dry	35	-10	Church (1981)
Clay, Dry	35	-10	Quality Control In Earthwork Operations
Clayey Silt or Clay	30	-10	BCFS 1995
Clayey Silt Or Clay	30	-9	BCFS 1995
Clean sand	12	-5	BCFS 1995
Common Sand	25	-10	BCFS 1995
Concrete, Cinder	72	33	Church (1981)
Concrete, Cyclopean	72	33	Church (1981)
Concrete, Stone	72	33	Church (1981)
Concrete, Stone	72	33	Church (1981)
Conglomerate	33	-8	Church (1981)
Decomposed Rock 25%R 75%E	43	-9	(FHWA 2007)
Decomposed Rock 25%R 75%E	26	-8	Church (1981)
Decomposed Rock 50%R 50%E	38	-6	(FHWA 2007)
Decomposed Rock 50%R 50%E	29	-5	Church (1981)
Decomposed Rock 75%R 25%E	31	12	(FHWA 2007)
Decomposed Rock 75%R 25%E	25	-12	Church (1981)
Dense Clay	33 to 40	-25	Earth Moving Fundamentals
Diabase	67	33	Church (1981)
Diorite	67	43	(FHWA 2007)
Diorite	67	33	Church (1981)
Dolomite	67	43	(FHWA 2007)
Dolomite	67	43	Church (1981)
Earth Rock Mix, 25%R 75%E	25	12	Church (1981)
Earth Rock Mix, 50%R 50%E	29	-5	Church (1981)
Earth Rock Mix, 75%R 25%E	26	-8	Church (1981)
Earth, Common	25	-20	Earth Moving Fundamentals
Earth, Loam Damp	40	-4	Church (1981)
Earth, Loam Dry	50	-12	(FHWA 2007)
Earth, Loam Dry	35	-12	Church (1981)
Earth, Loam Wet Mud	0	-20	Church (1981)
Earth, Loam, Damp	43	-4	(FHWA 2007)
Earth, Loam, Wet, Mud	0	-20	(FHWA 2007)
Feldspar	67	43	(FHWA 2007)
Feldspar	67	33	Church (1981)
Felsite	67	33	Church (1981)
Gabbro	67	43	(FHWA 2007)
Gabbro	67	33	Church (1981)
Gneiss	67	43	(FHWA 2007)
Gneiss	67	33	Church (1981)
Gob, Mining Refuse	0	-20	Church (1981)
Granite	72	43	(FHWA 2007)
Granite	72	33	Church (1981)
Granite	72	33	Durham University Community
Granite	72	28	Alaska Dot, 1983
Gravel	5	-3	Durham University Community
Gravel, Average Graduation, Dry	15	-7	Church (1981)
Gravel, Average Graduation, Wet	5	-3	Church (1981)
Gravel, Dry	15	-7	Quality Control In Earthwork Operations
Gravel, Dry, Average Graduation	20	-8	(FHWA 2007)
Gravel, Dry, Uniformly Graded	10	-5	(FHWA 2007)
Gravel, Dry, Well Graded	33	-11	(FHWA 2007)
Gravel, Pit Run	8	-4	Quality Control In Earthwork Operations
Gravel, Sandy	5	-7	Alaska Dot, 1983
Gravel, Wet	5	-3	Quality Control In Earthwork Operations
Gravel, Wet, Average Graduation	10	-2	(FHWA 2007)
Gravel, Wet, Uniformly Graded	5	-5	(FHWA 2007)
Gravel, Wet, Well Graded	16	-1	(FHWA 2007)
Gumbo, Dry	50	-10	(FHWA 2007)
Gumbo, Dry	50	-10	Church (1981)
Gumbo, Wet	67	-10	(FHWA 2007)
Gumbo, Wet	67	-10	Church (1981)
Hard Pan	25	0	BCFS 1995
Hard Pan	25	0	BCFS 1995
Ingeous Rocks	67	43	(FHWA 2007)
Limestone	63	36	(FHWA 2007)
Limestone	63	31	Alaska Dot, 1983
Limestone	63	36	Church (1981)
Limestone	63	36	Durham University Community
Loam and Loamy Sand	15 to 20	-17	Earth Moving Fundamentals
Loam, Earth, Damp	40	-4	Church (1981)
Loam, Earth, Dry	35	-12	Church (1981)
Loam, Earth, Wet, Mud	0	-20	Church (1981)
Loess	35	-25	Alaska Dot, 1983
Loess, Dry	50	-10	(FHWA 2007)
Loess, Dry	35	-10	Church (1981)
Loess, Wet	67	-10	(FHWA 2007)
Loess, Wet	40	-10	Church (1981)
Marble	67	43	(FHWA 2007)
Marble	67	33	Church (1981)
Marl	67	43	(FHWA 2007)
Marl	67	33	Church (1981)
Masonry, Rubble	67	43	(FHWA 2007)
Masonry, Rubble	67	33	Church (1981)
Mud	0	-20	Church (1981)
Mud	20	-15	Quality Control In Earthwork Operations
Pavement, Asphalt	50	0	(FHWA 2007)
Pavement, Asphalt	50	0	Church (1981)
Pavement, Brick	67	43	(FHWA 2007)
Pavement, Brick	67	33	Church (1981)
Pavement, Concrete	67	43	(FHWA 2007)
Pavement, Concrete	67	33	Church (1981)
Pavement, Macadam	67	0	(FHWA 2007)
Pavement, Macadam	67	0	Church (1981)
Pavement, Wood Block	72	33	Church (1981)
Porphyry	67	33	Church (1981)
Quartz	67	43	(FHWA 2007)
Quartz	67	33	Church (1981)
Quartzite	67	43	(FHWA 2007)
Quartzite	67	33	Church (1981)
Rhyolite	67	43	(FHWA 2007)
Rhyolite	67	33	Church (1981)
Riprap Rock	72	43	(FHWA 2007)
Riprap Rock, Average	72	43	Church (1981)
Rock/Earth 25%R/75%E	26	-8	Alaska Dot, 1983
Rock/Earth 50%R/50%E	29	-5	Alaska Dot, 1983
Rock/Earth 75%R/25%E	25	12	Alaska Dot, 1983
Sand	5	-12	Durham University Community
Sand	5	-11	Alaska Dot, 1983
Sand Or Gravel, Dry, Clean	12 to 14	-12	Earth Moving Fundamentals
Sand Or Gravel, Wet, Clean	12 to 16	-14	Earth Moving Fundamentals
Sand, Average Graduation, Dry	11	-11	Church (1981)
Sand, Average Graduation,Wet	5	-11	Church (1981)
Sand, Clean	12	-5	BCFS 1995
Sand, Common	25	-10	BCFS 1995
Sand, Dry	11	-11	(FHWA 2007)
Sand, Dry	10	-10	Quality Control In Earthwork Operations
Sand, Wet	5	-11	(FHWA 2007)
Sand, Wet	5	-10	Quality Control In Earthwork Operations
Sandstone	61	34	(FHWA 2007)
Sandstone	61	34	Church (1981)
Sandstone	61	29	Alaska Dot, 1983
Sandstone (Cemented)	61	34	Durham University Community
Schist	67	43	(FHWA 2007)
Schist	67	33	Church (1981)
Shale	79	49	(FHWA 2007)
Shale	36	-17	(FHWA 2007)
Shale	50	33	Church (1981)
Shale-Siliceous	40	25	Alaska Dot, 1983
Shales	50	33	Durham University Community
Silt	35	-20	Quality Control In Earthwork Operations
Silt	35	-17	Alaska Dot, 1983
Silt	36	-17	Church (1981)
Siltstone	61	-11	(FHWA 2007)
Siltstone	45	9	Alaska Dot, 1983
Siltstone	61	-11	Church (1981)
Slag, Furnace	98	65	Church (1981)
Slag, Sand	11	-11	Church (1981)
Slate	77	43	(FHWA 2007)
Slate	77	33	Church (1981)
Syenite	67	33	Church (1981)
Talc	67	43	(FHWA 2007)
Tale	67	33	Church (1981)
Topsoil	56	-26	(FHWA 2007)
Topsoil	56	-26	Church (1981)
Topsoil	55	-25	Quality Control In Earthwork Operations
Trachyte	67	33	Church (1981)
Trap Rock, Igneous Rocks	67	33	Church (1981)
Trash		-50	Church (1981)
Tuff	50	33	(FHWA 2007)
Tuff	50	33	Church (1981)

Spike's Calculators

Days till Santa

Excavation

Swell and Shrinkage of Excavated Materials

Results:

The Calculator

The Results

Excavation Calculators

Excavated Materials and Trucking

Equipment

Factors, Grades, Percentages

Information