Earthwork
Calculation
SURVEYING
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Earthwork Calculation
Calculation of Area and Volume for Regular and Irregular shapes
Calculation of area and volume is a mathematical discipline that deals with finding the area enclosed or
volume of both regular and irregular shaped spaces.
While constructing any highway / railway/ bridge etc, the amount of earthwork i.e. excavation and filling
must be known.
If it is a symmetrical area like rectangle, triangle etc, it is very easy to calculate volume by V= Area x
Length.
However, for unsymmetrical areas, we need special methods like trapezoidal, Simpson’s etc to calculate
areas and then volume.
Calculation of the area can be divided mainly into two parts based on the area-
Regular shaped lands
Irregular shaped lands
Regular Shaped Lands
These are formulas readily available for regular polygons like a triangle, rectangle, square and other polygons -
Shape Area Formulas Variables
Square A = S2 S is the side of the square.
Rectangle A=L×B L and B are the sides of the rectangle
Triangle B and H are the base and height
Parallelogram A=B×H B is the base and h is the height of the Parallelogram
B1 and B2 are the lengths of the parallel sides and H is the distance be-
Trapezoid A = (B1 + B2) × H
tween the parallels
Circle A = π × R2 R is the radius of Circle
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Shape Volume Formulas Variables
Cube V = S3 S is the side of the square.
Right Rectangular Prism V=L×B×H L is the length, W is the width and H is the height.
Prism or Cylinder V=A×H A is the area of the base, H is the height.
Pyramid or Cone V= A×H A is the area of the base, H is the height
Sphere A = π × R3 R is the radius of Circle
Irregular Shaped Lands
Methods of Determining Areas
The method of computation of area depends upon the shape of the boundary of the tract and the accuracy
required. For determining the areas of irregular shaped lands, different methods are used.
By Dividing in to Number of Triangles
Use of Hero’s Formula
Area =
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Offset Method
This Method is suitable for long narrow strips of land.
Here,
N = Total number of common interval.
d = Common interval.
Total number of ordinate = N+1
Mid Ordinate Method
h1 , h2
A = d (h1+h2+h3+……..+hn)
Average Ordinate Method
Trapezoidal Rule
It is most Suitable for curved Bounders.
In this method, boundaries between the ends of ordinates are assumed to be straight.
There is no restriction to number of bounders.
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Area of One Block
…..……………………
So Total Area A = A1+A2+A3+…..
A = [{O1+On} + 2 {O2+O3+….+O(n-1)}]
Simpson’s Rule
The rule is applicable only when the number of divisions is even or the number of ordinates is odd.
If there are even number of offsets, calculate one area (First or last) by trapezoidal rule and add in total
area, calculated for other offsets by Simpson’s rule.
Area of two Block
……………………………………
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So Total Area A = A1+A2+A3+A4…..
A = [{O1+On} + 4 {O2+O4…) + 2 { O3+O5 …)
Methods of Determining Volume:
The computation of volumes of various quantities from the measurements done in the field is required for
suitable alignment of road works, canal and sewer lines, soil and water conservation works, farm pond, and
percolation pond consent.
Trapezoidal rule [Average end area Method]
V = [{A1+An} + 2 {A2+A3+….+A(n-1)}]
Simpson’s rule [Prismoidal Method]
A= [{A1+An} + 4 {A2+A4…) + 2 { A3+A5 …)]
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