What does a balanced site mean?

Cut bank volume equals fill compacted volume, so no import or export is needed. Because soil swells and shrinks differently, this is rarely exact.

Why report loose volume for net import/export?

Trucks are billed in loose cubic yards — the state the material is in inside the truck.

How accurate is this?

Good for planning and rough estimating. For construction pay quantities, use station volumes, TIN differences, or drone surveys.

Earthwork

Imperial units

Cut and Fill Calculator

Model any number of cut zones and fill zones separately. Get bank, loose, and compacted volume per zone, plus the net import or export in loose cubic yards.

Zones

cut

Areasq ft

Avg depthin

Swell %

Typical: 15–25% for loam, up to 40% for rock.

fill

Areasq ft

Avg depthin

Shrinkage %

Typical: 15–25% for compacted fill.

Truck capacitycu yd

Live estimate

Net EXPORT (loose)

0 cu yd

Enter one or more zones to see cut/fill balance.

How it's calculated

For every cut zone: bank cu yd = area × depth ÷ 27; loose = bank × (1 + swell %).

For every fill zone: compacted target = area × depth ÷ 27; loose to order = target ÷ (1 − shrinkage %); compacted placed = target.

Net export (loose cu yd) = Σ cut loose − Σ fill loose. Positive = export off site; negative = import in.

Truckloads = |net| ÷ truck capacity, rounded up in the actionable output.

Material assumptions

Enter every distinct cut and fill zone as a separate row — the calculator sums them.
Bank volume is the in-place quantity you dig or place.
Loose volume = bank × (1 + swell %). This is what a truck actually carries.
Compacted volume = bank ÷ (1 + compaction shrinkage %). This is what fits in a compacted layer.
Net import/export is reported in loose cubic yards — the unit trucks are billed in.

Frequently asked questions

ExcavationEarthwork Import SoilEarthwork Export SoilEarthwork Fill DirtSoil

This is a preliminary estimate. Use a survey or grading plan for construction quantities.