Calculate bank excavation, loose spoil, bedding, pipe displacement, backfill balance, truckloads, and optional costs for rectangular or user-specified sloped trenches.
Rectangular trenches use length × width × depth. Sloped trenches use a trapezoidal cross-section multiplied by length.
Geometric excavation is bank volume. A user-entered swell factor converts bank soil to loose spoil without changing mass.
Trench dimensions, side slopes, bedding, reusable-soil percentage, and shrinkage are editable project inputs. The calculator does not select design or safety values.
bank volume = length × width × depth × quantityvolume = ((bottom width + top width) ÷ 2 × depth) × length × quantitytop width = bottom width + 2 × depth × (H ÷ V)excavation − bedding − outside pipe volume − permanent volumeloose volume = bank volume × (1 + swell rate)A 100 × 2 × 4 ft rectangular trench is 800 ft³, or about 29.630 yd³ bank.
At a user-entered 20% swell factor, 800 ft³ bank occupies 960 ft³, or about 35.556 yd³ loose.
A 2 ft bottom, 6 ft top, 4 ft deep, 100 ft long trench has a 16 ft² section and 1,600 ft³ volume.
A 100 × 2 × 0.5 ft bedding zone is 100 ft³ before its separate purchase allowance.
Bank, loose, and compacted volumes are different states and are never mixed silently.
Pipe displacement uses its external cylinder, not internal capacity.
Bedding, slope, reusable soil, swell, and shrinkage assumptions must come from the project.
When volume and weight capacities are entered, the larger whole-load count governs.
Top width can be entered directly or derived from a symmetric user-entered H:V slope. The slope is a project-supplied geometry input, not a safe or compliant slope recommendation.
Bedding is calculated first as a lower rectangular material zone. Pipe and other permanent volume are then subtracted once from the remaining geometric backfill void.
The shared Earthwork balance converts required placed backfill to bank-equivalent soil using the user-entered shrinkage factor, then compares it with the user-entered reusable fraction of excavated bank soil.
Loose surplus drives volume hauling. Optional user-entered in-place density preserves mass and enables weight-limited loads. Excavation, hauling, and bedding costs remain separate.
In the United States, OSHA excavation requirements address cave-in protection and selection of sloping, benching, support, or shield systems. This calculator does not make those decisions or determine compliance.
Multiply length, width, and depth for vertical sides, or multiply trapezoidal cross-sectional area by length.
The calculator converts the full-precision bank volume to cubic yards.
Enter bottom and top widths or a symmetric H:V slope supplied by the project design.
Bottom width is at trench grade; top width includes horizontal widening from sloped sides.
The user-entered swell factor increases loose volume after excavation but does not increase soil mass.
Multiply explicit bedding width, depth, and applicable trench length, then add a separate bedding allowance.
Subtract the pipe's outside displacement when it occupies the calculated backfill void.
Subtract bedding, pipe, and other permanent material from excavation, then apply any explicit soil-state conversion.
Divide loose export by truck volume capacity and/or export mass by weight capacity, then round up.
Yes. Included sections are calculated independently and summed before project conversions.
No. The entered slope is project-supplied geometry only.
No. It does not assess shoring, shielding, benching, or trench boxes.
No. Consult qualified professionals and applicable safety and excavation requirements.