Cut & Fill / Earthwork Calculator
Estimate cut, fill, reusable material, borrow and export across multiple grading areas. Enter average depths or representative Existing vs Proposed elevations and review BCY, LCY and CCY separately.
Earthwork estimating aid—not civil surface or TIN software. Verify project swell, shrink and reusable-material assumptions.
Cut & Fill / Earthwork Calculator
Estimate cut, fill, BCY, LCY, CCY, reusable material, borrow and export across defined grading areas.
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Sitework Estimating ServicesHow to use the cut and fill calculator
- Set project swell, shrink and reusable-cut assumptions.
- Add each defined grading area and choose Average Depth or Existing vs Proposed Elevations.
- Enter area in square feet and the applicable depths or representative elevations.
- Calculate and review each area and the bank-equivalent project balance.
Combine parking lots, building pads, landscape areas and other defined grading areas. Soil factors apply at project level; verify their suitability for the material and project.
Understand BCY, LCY and CCY
- BCY — Bank Cubic Yards: in-place, undisturbed material.
- LCY — Loose Cubic Yards: excavated material after swell.
- CCY — Compacted Cubic Yards: placed and compacted fill.
These are different volume states. A cut and fill calculation must convert them to a common basis before comparing supply and demand; subtracting Cut BCY directly from Fill CCY does not establish a valid balance.
Average-depth earthwork volume
CY = Area SF × Average Depth ft ÷ 27
10,000 SF × 1.5 ft ÷ 27 = 555.555556 CY. Cut is reported as BCY; fill geometry is reported as CCY. Depth can be entered in feet or inches. This earthwork volume calculator uses the defined area's average depth rather than modeling a civil surface.
Swell and inverse shrink conversion
Swell: bank to loose volume
LCY = BCY × (1 + swell percentage ÷ 100)
100 BCY at 20% swell becomes 120 LCY. Swell changes loose volume, not the original bank cut. The 20% default is an editable project assumption, not a universal soil factor.
Shrink: compacted fill back to required bank volume
CCY obtainable = BCY × (1 − shrink percentage ÷ 100)
Required BCY = Required CCY ÷ (1 − shrink percentage ÷ 100)
At 10% shrink, 100 BCY yields 90 CCY. Supplying 100 CCY therefore requires 100 ÷ 0.90 = 111.111111 BCY. Adding 10% to 100 gives 110 BCY and is not this calculator's inverse conversion.
Reusable cut, borrow and export
Reusable Cut BCY = Cut BCY × reusable percentage ÷ 100
1,000 BCY at 80% reusable gives 800 reusable BCY and 200 non-reusable BCY. Only reusable cut satisfies fill demand. The earthwork estimator compares Reusable Cut BCY with Required Fill BCY.
- Borrow Required: required bank-equivalent fill exceeds reusable cut.
- Reusable Supply Balanced: reusable cut matches required fill. Non-reusable cut can still require export.
- Reusable Excess: reusable cut exceeds required fill.
Total export combines non-reusable cut and reusable excess, each counted once. Loose export applies the selected swell factor.
Borrow example
500 reusable BCY against 600 CCY fill at 10% shrink requires 666.667 BCY. Borrow is 166.667 BCY, or 200 LCY equivalent at 20% swell.
Worked example: parking lot cut and building pad fill
With 20% swell, 10% shrink and 80% reusable cut:
- Parking Lot Cut: 10,000 SF × 1.5 ft = 555.556 BCY, or 666.667 LCY.
- Building Pad Fill: 6,000 SF × 1 ft = 222.222 CCY, requiring 246.914 BCY.
- Reusable cut: 444.444 BCY; non-reusable cut: 111.111 BCY.
- Borrow: 0 BCY; reusable excess: 197.531 BCY.
- Total export: 308.642 BCY, equivalent to 370.370 LCY.
Examples are rounded for reading; calculations use underlying precision.
Existing vs Proposed representative elevations
Signed Depth = Existing Elevation − Proposed Elevation. Positive depth is cut; negative depth is fill; zero means no grade change.
Points are equal-area representative samples. The cut-depth sum and fill-depth magnitude sum are each divided by the total number of points, including zero and opposite-sign points.
For 10,800 SF with signed depths +1.0, +0.5, −1.0 and −0.5 ft, average cut and fill depths are each 0.375 ft. Results are 150 BCY cut and 150 CCY fill. The signed depths net to zero, but excavation and fill still occur; they must not be erased by netting.
Scope and limitations
This excavation volume calculator is an estimating aid, not civil grading or TIN software. V1 does not perform TIN/surface modeling, contour interpolation, coordinate/grid modeling, cross-section integration, automatic topsoil stripping, trench/bedding calculations, haul-distance or truck-cycle analysis, equipment productivity, soil classification, density/tons, pricing/labor, GPS/CAD import or civil-design certification.
Frequently asked questions
What is a cut and fill calculation?
It estimates excavation and placed fill, then compares reusable cut with fill demand after converting both to bank-equivalent volume.
How do I calculate earthwork cubic yards?
Multiply area in square feet by average depth in feet and divide by 27. Select Cut or Fill to identify the volume state.
What is BCY?
Bank cubic yards measure material in its in-place, undisturbed state.
What is LCY?
Loose cubic yards measure excavated material after applying swell.
What is CCY?
Compacted cubic yards measure fill in its placed, compacted state.
How does swell affect excavation volume?
Loose volume equals bank volume multiplied by one plus the selected swell percentage. Use a project-appropriate factor.
How does shrink affect fill requirements?
Required bank volume equals compacted fill volume divided by one minus the selected shrink percentage.
What does reusable cut mean?
It is the entered proportion of bank cut assumed suitable to satisfy project fill demand. The remaining cut is treated as non-reusable export.
How does the calculator determine borrow or export?
It compares reusable BCY against required fill BCY. A shortage requires borrow; total export combines reusable excess and non-reusable cut.
Can this replace civil grading or TIN software?
No. It uses average depths or equal-area representative elevations, not a modeled surface. Verify grading and geotechnical assumptions independently.