Bulking Factors

Excavation increases the volume of material. It is therefore necessary to use a bulking factor
to determine the volume of material that will be created by excavation. The bulking factor is
defined as:
Bulking Factor = Volume after Excavation/Volume before Excavation
Similarly, a shrinkage factor is defined for the compaction of a soil at its final destination:
Shrinkage Factor = Volume after Compaction/Volume before Excavation
Typical values can be found in Table 1 below.

Table 1 - Soil Properties

Material

Bulk Density
Mg/m3

Bulking
Factor

Shrinkage
Factor

Diggability

Clay (Low PI)

1.65

1.30

Clay (High PI)

2.10

1.40

0.90

M-H

Clay and Gravel

1.80

1.35

M-H

Sand

2.00

1.05

0.89

Sand & Gravel

1.95

1.15

Gravel

2.10

1.05

0.97

Chalk

1.85

1.50

0.97

Shales

2.35

1.50

1.33

M-H

Limestone

2.60

1.63

1.36

M-H

Sandstone (Porous)

2.50

1.60

Sandstone (cemented)

2.65

1.61

1.34

M-H

Basalt

2.95

1.64

1.36

Granite

2.41

1.72

1.33

Extract from www.dur.ac.uk/~des0www4/cal/roads/earthwk/earthwk.html