Earth Works

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Earthworks encompasses a range of engineering activities that goes well beyond the conventional digging out of soil and rock and movement of the material to another part of a site.

 

SERVICE OVERVIEW

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Earthworks encompasses a range of engineering activities that goes well beyond the conventional digging out of soil and rock and movement of the material to another part of a site. Although these activities may be amongst the most fundamental of civil engineering construction activities, and take place whenever and wherever a development takes place, earthworks also include embankment dams, foundations (especially those for linear infrastructure) such as capping layers for road construction, structural fill for retaining walls, and for reinforced and anchored soil and earth.

 

DETAILS

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Engineers need to concern themselves with issues of geotechnical engineering (such as soil density and strength) and with quantity estimation to ensure that soil volumes in the cuts match those of the fills, while minimizing the distance of movement. In the past, these calculations were done by hand using a slide rule and with methods such as Simpson's rule. Earthworks cost is a function of hauled amount x hauled distance. The goal of mass haul planning is to determine these amounts and the goal of mass haul optimization is to minimize either or both.