Earth Quantities

Introduction
H. Shamaoma SBE Dept of Urban and Regional Planning ESC340: Land Surveying
Earth quantities
Volumes and areas
Introduction
Estimation of areas and volumes key component of
many engineering construction projects
Huge quantities of material have to be moved in order
to form the necessary embankments, cuttings,
foundations, basements, lakes and so on, that have
been specified in the design
The excavation and hauling of materials in
engineering projects is the most significant and
costly aspect of the work on which profit or loss may
depend

Area
Computation of area is based on:
Data scaled from plans
Data directly obtained from the field survey
Land parcels can be either
Straight sided
Irregular
A combination of both

Plotted areas
Area of any straight sided figure can be
calculated by splitting it into triangles
Sum of triangles gives the area of the figures
The area calculations can be done using one of the
following formulae

Area = [S(S - a) (S - b) (S - c)], where a, b, and c are sides
and S = (a+b+c)
Area = (base x height of the triangles)
Area = x ab sinC, where C is angle btn sides a and b
Plotted irregular areas
These can be determined in one of the following
ways:
Superimposing a gridded transplant sheet of material
With number of squares and scale, area can be estimated
Give and take technique

Give and take line
Give
Take
Plotted irregular area
planimetre
This instrument measures the area of a plane figure as a pointer
is moved around the figure's edge
Computing irregular area
O
1

O
8
O
7
O
6

O
5

O
4

O
3
O
2

d
d d d
d
d
d
Survey line
O
9

d
Two fundamental rules used in computing irregular
areas
(i) Trapezoid rule and (ii) Simpsons rule
Trapezoid rule
The survey line divided into a number of small equal intercepts
of length d and offsets O
1
, O
2
, , O
n
, `
Trapezoid rule
If d is short enough for the length of the boundary between
the offsets to be assumed straight, then the area is divided
into a series of trapezoids
Area of trapezoid (1) =
Area of trapezoid (2) =
Summing up we get:
Area =
{ }
9 3 2 1
..... 2 2
2
O O O O
d
+ + + +
d
O O
*
2
2 1
+
d
O O
*
2
3 2
+
O
1

O
8
O
7
O
6

O
5

O
4

O
3
O
2

d
d d d
d
d
d
Survey line
O
9

d
Trapezoid rule
d x
O O
Area
2
) 1 (
2 1
+
= d x
O O
Area
2
) 2 (
3 2
+
=
d x
O O
Area
2
) 7 (
8 7
+
=
d x
O O
Area
2
) 8 (
9 8
+
=
O
1

O
8
O
7
O
6

O
5

O
4

O
3
O
2

d
d d d
d d
d
Survey line
O
9

d
{ }
9 3 2 1
..... 2 2
2
O O O O
d
Area + + + + =
In general case we get
)
`
+ + + +
+
=
1 3 2
1
.....
2
n
n
O O O
O O
d Area
Example
The following offsets, 8m apart, were measured at right at right
angles from the traverse to an irregular boundary.
0 m 2.3 m 5.5 m 7.9m 8.6 m 6.9 m 7.3 m 6.2 m 3.1 m 0 m
Calculate the area between the traverse line and the irregular boundary using
the trapezoid rule.

)
`
+ + + +
+
1 3 2
1
.....
2
n
n
O O O
O O
d Area =

Area = 8.00 x
= 382.4 m
2

Simpsons rule
O
1

G
D A
C
B
O
2

O
3

d
d
F
A
1
A
2

Area =
In general we get
Area =
Simpsons rule
Simpsons Rule states that: the area enclosed by a
curvilinear figure divided into an even number of strips
of equal width is equal to one third the width of a strip,
multiplied by sum of the two extreme offsets, twice the
sum of the remaining odd offsets, and four times the
sum of the even offsets.

Area =
Area by coordinates
N
Q 0 T P S
E
R
E
A
B
D
Consider closed traverse
ABCDEA
C
Stn coords are: E
A
, N
A
;
E
B
, N
B
; E
C
, N
C
.etc.

Area ABCDEA = areas (ABPT + BCQP + CDRQ DESR EATS)
Area by coordinates
In general, area =
Note that the polygon should be labeled in a clockwise order*
=
=
=
Area by coordinates
N
Q 0
T
P S
E
R
E
A
B
D
Determine the area in
hectares enclosed by the
line of a closed traverse
survey ABCDE from the
following data
C
Point
Id
N
i
E
i+1
E
i-1
N i(E
i+1
-E
i-1
)
A 418.11 806.71 652.08 64652.3493
B 523.16 942.17 613.26 172072.556
C 366.84 901.89 806.71 34915.8312
D 203.18 652.08 942.17 -58940.4862
E 259.26 613.26 901.89 -74830.2138
Sum 137870.0365
Point Id E (m) N (m)
A 613.26 418.11
B 806.71 523.16
C 942.17 366.84
D 901.89 203.18
E 652.08 259.26
Area =
= 13.7870 ha
Area = 13.7870 ha *0.5
= 6.8935 ha
Area from cross sections
C
L
W W
b
b
h
Original
ground
surface
1 in n
Side slope 1
vertical in n
horizontal
L
W
b b
W
h
C
Formation level
Embankment
Cutting
Plan width = 2W = 2(b + nh)
Area of cross-section = h(2b + nh)
Same formula used for cut and
embankment
Depth at centerline = h units
Formation width = 2b units
Side width = w
Plan width = 2w
Side slopes I in n

Volume of earthworks
( ) ( ) ( )
2
(
........
2 2 2
1
1
4 3
3
3 2
2
2 1
1
n n
n total
A A
d
A A
d
A A
d
A A
d V
+
+ +
+
+
+
+
+
=

( )
2
2 1
1 1
A A
d V
+
=
If two cross-sectional areas A
1
and A
2
are horizontal
distance d1 apart volume between them V is given
by:
| | ) ...... ( 2
2
1 3 2 1
+ + + +
n n
A A A A A
d
Total volume =
End areas method
Volume of earthworks
Prismoidal formula

( )
3 2 1
4
3
A A A
d
+ +
( )
5 4 3
4
3
A A A
d
+ +
V
3-5
=
V
1-3
=
( )
3 4 2 5 1
2 ) ( 4
3
A A A A A
d
+ + +
V =
The general formula for n cross-sections,
where n must be odd is:
( )

+ + + areas odd remaining areas even A A
d
n
2 4
3
1
V =
Volume from spot heights
h
1
h2 h
3

h
4

h
5
h
6
h
7

h
8

h
9

h
10

h
11

Method generally used for calculating
volumes of huge open excavations
such as:
Basements
Borrowpits
Underground tanks
Spoil heaps
etc
Typically a square or triangular grid is established on the
ground and spot levels are taken at each grid intersection
just as described in contouring by spot levels
Volume from spot heights
h
1
h2 h
3

h
4

h
5
h
6
h
7

h
8

h
9

h
10

h
11

4.76
3.21
5.14
4.77 5.82
6.72 8.10
6.07
1.98 2.31 3.55
The volume of grid square h
1
h
2
h
6
h
5

Plan area of each Grid square = 100 m
2

= (4.76 + 5.14 + 4.77 + 3.21)* 100
= 447 m
3

Applying the formula to all the grids we obtain the general formula:
( ) V depths quadruple depths triple depths double depths ngle si
A
c + + + +

4 3 2
4
| | )] 77 . 4 ( 4 ) 82 . 5 ( 3 ) 31 . 2 21 . 3 72 . 6 14 . 5 ( 2 55 . 3 98 . 1 07 . 6 10 . 8 76 . 4
4
100
+ + + + + + + + + +
3
2394 ) 08 . 19 46 . 17 76 . 34 46 . 24 ( 25 m = + + +
V =
V =
V =
V is outside the grids and is calculated separately
Volume = mean height x plan area

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