Skip to main content

Hill road earthwork, 0+020 to 0+140

Short answer

Use side-hill section formulas to find areas. Where cutting changes to filling, prorate length by centre heights. Volume by mean area method gives cutting 411.66 m³, filling 184.84 m³.

Data for a hill road portion is given below. Calculate the volume of earthwork.

ChainageDepth of Cutting (m)Height of banking (m)Transverse Slope of Ground
0+020 m0.6-10:1
0+070 m0.7-15:1
0+140 m-0.812:1

Width in cutting = 8 m, Formation width in banking = 10 m, Side slope in cutting = 1.5:1 (H:V), Side slope in banking = 2:1 (H:V).

Given data and assumptions

  • Formation width: cutting 88 m, banking 1010 m; side slopes: cutting 1.5:11.5:1, banking 2:12:1 (H:V).
  • Sections at 0+020, 0+070 and 0+140 m, so the distances are 50 m and 70 m.

Method

The ground has a transverse (cross) slope n:1n:1 (H:V), so each section is a side-hill section. With centre height hh (cutting +, filling −) above/below formation level, formation width BB and side slope s:1s:1:

xu=n (B/2+sh)n−s,du=h+xunxd=n (B/2+sh)n+s,dd=h−xdnA=12Bh+12[B2(du+dd)+h (xu+xd−B)]\begin{aligned} x_u &= \frac{n\,(B/2 + s h)}{n - s},\quad d_u = h + \frac{x_u}{n}\\ x_d &= \frac{n\,(B/2 + s h)}{n + s},\quad d_d = h - \frac{x_d}{n}\\ A &= \tfrac12 B h + \tfrac12\left[\tfrac{B}{2}(d_u + d_d) + h\,(x_u + x_d - B)\right] \end{aligned}

Here xu,xdx_u, x_d are the horizontal distances of the up-hill and down-hill toes from the centre line, and du,ddd_u, d_d are the heights of the ground above formation at the toes (formulas for cutting). For a section wholly in filling the roles swap: the down-hill toe is the far one, xd=n(B/2+sh)/(n−s)x_d = n(B/2 + s h)/(n - s) and xu=n(B/2+sh)/(n+s)x_u = n(B/2 + s h)/(n + s), with hh the filling height and ss the filling slope. Where the ground line crosses the formation level inside the road width (part cutting, part filling), the cutting and filling areas are found separately from the co-ordinates of the section (toe points from the same intersection equations). Volume between sections = mean area × distance, taken separately for cutting and filling. Where the centre changes from cutting to filling between two sections and one type of area is zero at one end, the change-over point is found by proportion of the centre heights, and that area is taken over its own part of the length only: V=12A×lV = \tfrac12 A \times l.

Sectional areas

ChainageCentre ht. hh (m)Cutting area (m²)Filling area (m²)
0+020cut 0.605.7080.000
0+070cut 0.706.5070.000
0+140fill 0.800.0009.902

Working for one section:

Take chainage 0+020: centre cutting depth h=0.60h = 0.60 m, n=10n = 10, B=8.0B = 8.0 m.

  • Ground height above formation at the uphill edge =1.000= 1.000 m, at the downhill edge =0.200= 0.200 m.
  • Toe of the side slope on the uphill side at x=5.765x = 5.765 m from the centre line (ground above formation by 1.176 m); downhill toe at x=4.261x = 4.261 m (ground above formation by 0.174 m).
  • Area from the co-ordinates of the polygon: cutting =5.708= 5.708 m², filling =0.000= 0.000 m².

Change-over between 0+070 (wholly in cutting, 0.70 m) and 0+140 (wholly in filling, 0.80 m): the zero point is 70×0.70/1.50=32.6770 \times 0.70/1.50 = 32.67 m from 0+070, leaving 37.3337.33 m in filling.

  • Cutting =12×6.507×32.67=106.28= \tfrac12 \times 6.507 \times 32.67 = 106.28 m³
  • Filling =12×9.902×37.33=184.84= \tfrac12 \times 9.902 \times 37.33 = 184.84 m³

Volumes

BetweenDistance (m)Cutting (m³)Filling (m³)
0+020 – 0+07050.0305.380.00
0+070 – 0+14070.0 (32.67 cut + 37.33 fill)106.28184.84
Total120.0411.66184.84

Answer: Earthwork in cutting = 411.66 m³; earthwork in filling = 184.84 m³.

✓ Answer checked by Claude Opus 5.5 (high effort)

All Estimating and Costing chapter 6 questions →