Chapter 6 Earthwork 6-1, Foreword Payment for grading on highway and railroad construction is usually based on a bid price per cubic yard for excavation measured! in place as computed from survey notes. The unit price ordinarily includes: hauling excavated ‘material (cut from within the limits of the roadway or moving in other material (borrow) from outside areas; building the embankments (fll) to specified form; disposing of surplus material (waste); and performing such operations as forming earth shoulders, trimming slopes, and preparing the subgrade for railroad ballast or for highway base or surface courses, ‘Separate unit prices for different types of material excavated may be used. There are advantages, however, in reducing the number of classifications to two—"rock excavation” and “common excavation"—or even to a single type called “unclassified excavation.” Fill quantities are important in grade-line design, though they are not paid for directly inthe usual contract. However, on projects consisting wholly 19114 EARTHWORK of embankment—such as levees—the payment is based on a unit price for fil as computed from survey notes. 6-2, Earthwork Operations ‘The operations included under this heading depend on the nature and ‘magnitude of the project. ‘A. On major highway projects where photogrammetric methods are used, the usual operations in sequence are: 1, Office work-—taking cross-section measurements by photogrammetric techniques along a selected route center line prior to construction, 2. Office work—obtaining quantities by electronic computer methods {rom data obtained in 1 3, Field work—setting construction stakes from measurements obtained in | and from alignment data, 4, Miscellaneous-—making. added measurements and computations needed for determining final pay quantities. B. On secondary roads and most single-track railroad projects where Photogrammetric metheds are not used, the usual operations in sequence are: 1. Office work—making preliminary estimates of grading quantities along a selected route centerline drawn on a contour map. 2, Field work—setting cross-section stakes along the route after the alignment is staked. 3, Office work—computing grading quantities from data obtained in 2 4, Miscellaneous—making added measurements and computations needed for determining final pay quantities. 6-3. Types of Cross Sections ‘The determination of earthwork quantities is based on office or field cross sections taken in a specified manner. On highway and railroad work, cross sections are vertical and at right angles to the survey centerline. Every section, is an area bounded by the original and the graded surface, the latter being efined by its side slopes, shoulders, subgrade, median strip, and drainage ditches, Figure 6-1 shows a portion of a graded roadbed passing from fill to cut (side ditches are omitted for simplicity). The sketch illustrates several cross sections, the types depending on their shape and the number of measurements ‘used to determine them. section a rod reading is always taken at the center-line tional readings are usually taken at the intersections of the side slopes and the ground surface; if stakes are driven at these points they Figure 6-1 6-8. TYPES OF CROSS SECTIONS 115, Types of cross sections,116 EARTHWORK Original surface Side Shidr Shidr Shidr Side slope Pavement Median Pavement slope Figure 6-2 ara ale slap tales. Aditional rod readings ate taken where conitons ree he, : ‘The section at Hs a regular three-level section in cut, so named because thos rod cans ae wed fo tone atthe center stake and two thes tte pena lection In atoad and twodsne highway construction, thn ype in cut ori curs more ote han any ether {Fe Secon at Dan © ae special cases ofa treeleve section, cach aving grade poi (point or G) sone core. it aocion a Ds feeee stim infil Tita moication of @ these ation ia which to adtonal eins ae taken daly teow abo) the edge ofthe base (orate ation at isan regular section nl, A lrge numberof rod readings ae roqied to fix itcin the cae shown, ther are Ou readings at poina rin aan che tvs atte slope stakes and center stake "Te sion aE isa sde-il section, having et on one sie and fill cn tester ide of grade point a. In th ease sete the grade point scomtconter ine, tin general may fal ayers Between te cs of sree section ats level scion so designated because the ground is level tannery ad only one tod reading atthe coterie sient, A rajor rural hghwy, such aon the Interstate Syste, wl usualy have four of more nea vated mdan, wide shoulders, and dainage ticks atthe fo of et side slopes Figure 6:2 shows eros section iting this desertion 6-4, Location of Cross Sections. For convenience in caleulations and field work, cross sections are usually taken at each fullstation (or half.station) stake on the survey center line ‘They are also taken at curve points and additional plus-points where in portant “breaks” in the topography occur. Where grading is very heavy or 65. SPECIAL FORMULAS FOR END AREAS 117 ‘whete unit costs are high, as in rock excavation, cross sections are taken at closer intervals, Ifthe transition between cut and fill occurs on a side hill, ax many as five cross sections may be needed. In Fig. 6-1 these sections are located at CD, E, F, and G. Theoretically, complete cross sections are not necessary at Cand F, but their stationing is needed to locate the apexes of the pyramids having triangular end bases at E. Thus, the cross sections at the transition are reduced to three: (1) at the fill-base grade point D, (2) at the eenter-line grade point £, and (3) at the cut-base grade point G. The points C and F are ‘often so close to D and G they are omitted from the notes and the apexes of the transition pyramids assumed to fall at D and G. Where the three sections at the transition are very close together, the grade contour DEG is assumed to be at right angles to the center line; there are then wedged-shaped solids ion either side of the grade contour. See page 127, 6-5. Special Formulas for End Areas Allend areas that are bounded by straight lines can be found by the coordinate ‘method (section 6-6). However, the simple geometric areas defined in section {6-3 occur so frequently that its convenient to have special formulas for them. Figure 6-3 shows the areas at certain eross sectiors in Fig. 6-1. The common notation is spread among the several sketches. The distance c is always the vertical distance (cut or fill) between ground and grade at the ‘enter line, and sh, (or f,) is the vertical distance between ground and grade atthe slope stake. Distances between ground and grade at other points are denoted by c; and ¢, in cut, and by fj and J, in fill as at section B). The in- clination s ofthe side slopes is expressed by the ratio of horizontal distance to vertical distance (as unity). ‘The horizontal distance from the survey center line to any slope stake is seediewe smerny 0 Teun telat b+ D aene42) “9 Ap= ab +s) (6-3) ‘The area of a regular three-level section (as at H) is found by adding the ‘reas ofthe two cross-hatched triangles to the areas of the two triangles having