Quick Answer: Earthwork takeoff is computing cut and fill volumes in cubic yards from the existing and proposed elevations, sizing hauling and disposal, and measuring grading and compaction area off the limits of disturbance. CyanBuild reads the site and grading plans, compares the two surfaces, reports cut and fill in cubic yards, and sizes hauling, compaction, and fine grading area, with a confidence flag on every line so your estimator knows what to verify.
Earthwork takeoff is the process of measuring every quantity on a site and grading plan in the units your trade bills on. Done by hand it means counting contour lines, averaging end areas, and scaling haul distances, which is slow and error prone. AI reads the same drawings in seconds and reports the same quantities, with the math shown for every number so your bid is defensible.
CyanBuild measures earthwork quantities off the scaled PDF, DWG, or image. The result is a line item takeoff tied back to the sheet and location it came from, so your order is accurate and your bid holds up when the GC checks your numbers.
What Trade Specific Takeoff Means for Earthwork
Earthwork sits in CSI Division 31, Earthwork, and the trade specific part is that earthwork is a volume and a haul, not a count or an area. You bill by the cubic yard moved, the cubic yard imported or exported, and the square yard graded and compacted. The math that turns a contour plan into a cubic yard number is what your bid lives or dies on. Trade specific takeoff has to read both the existing and the proposed surfaces and compute the volume between them, then convert that volume into hauling, compaction, and disposal in the units the bid sheet expects.
Trade specific also means the takeoff understands the difference between cut, fill, and the borrow or waste that follows. A site that cuts more than it fills exports material. A site that fills more than it cuts imports material. The takeoff has to net the two and report the haul, because hauling is where the money goes. Generic area takeoff software does not compute volume at all, and tools that only read the plan view miss the elevations that drive the whole job.
What Counts on the Drawings
Earthwork quantities live on the existing conditions plan, the grading plan, the site preparation plan, and the utility profiles. The existing conditions plan shows the ground the way it is today. The grading plan shows the proposed finished elevations. The difference between the two is the cut or the fill. The utility profiles show trench depth for the excavation that goes with the pipe. A complete takeoff reads all of them.
What you are counting and measuring:
- Cut and fill volumes in cubic yards, computed from the existing and proposed surfaces by the average end area or the grid method.
- Import and export, netted from the cut and fill with a shrink or swell factor applied.
- Hauling, in cubic yard miles or in truckloads, derived from the net export and the haul distance to the borrow or the dump.
- Stripping and topsoil, measured in cubic yards or square feet, separate from the structural cut and fill.
- Compaction area, square feet or square yards, graded and compacted to a specified proctor.
- Trench excavation for utilities, measured in cubic yards and linear feet, with depth pulled from the profile.
- Geotextile, separation fabric, and aggregate base, measured in square feet or cubic yards under the paving and the building.
What Good Takeoff Software Does for This Trade
Good earthwork takeoff software reads the existing and the proposed surfaces and computes the volume between them. It handles the two common methods, average end area and grid, and shows the math so your estimator can spot a bad contour read. It applies a shrink or swell factor to convert bank cubic yards to loose and to compacted, because the same dirt bills at three different volumes depending on whether it is in the ground, in the truck, or placed and compacted. It nets the cut and the fill and reports the haul, and it sizes the trench excavation off the utility profiles rather than leaving it for the estimator to key in.
The software should also handle the boundary work. The limits of disturbance, the tree protection zone, the erosion control area, and the sediment basin all carry square footage that gets billed. The takeoff should measure those areas off the plan and report them as separate line items, not fold them into a single grading number.
Must Have Features
- Surface to surface volume computation, with the average end area and grid methods both supported and the math shown.
- Shrink and swell factors applied to convert bank to loose and to compacted cubic yards, user set by soil type.
- Cut and fill netting, with import and export reported separately and the haul distance factored into the hauling line.
- Trench excavation off the utility profiles, in cubic yards and linear feet, with depth pulled from the profile.
- Boundary area takeoff for limits of disturbance, erosion control, and sediment, reported as separate line items.
- Confidence flags on every line, so your estimator knows which volumes came straight off the surfaces and which need a second look.
- Takeoff tied back to the sheet and the location, so the GC can trace any number back to the contour it came from.
- Export to Excel and PDF in the format your bid sheet expects, with volumes in cubic yards and areas in square yards.
What to Watch Out For
The trap in earthwork takeoff is the existing surface. Designers draw the proposed surface in detail and leave the existing as a handful of contours, or they base the existing on a topographic survey that is years old. The takeoff has to read the existing as drawn and flag the gaps, because the volume is only as good as the surface underneath it. Ask whether the tool reads the existing contours and the proposed contours and shows the difference, or whether it assumes a flat existing grade.
The second trap is the shrink and swell. The same cut volume bills differently when it is hauled off versus when it is placed and compacted as fill, and the factor changes by soil type. Software that reports bank cubic yards only leaves the estimator to convert by hand. Ask how the tool handles shrink and swell, how it nets cut and fill, and how it sizes the haul. Ask how it handles trenches, because utility excavation is often billed separately from mass grading and the depth comes off the profile, not the plan. And ask how it tracks revisions, because grading plans change between the permit set and the issue for construction more often than people realize.
How CyanBuild Fits
CyanBuild reads site and grading plans in PDF, DWG, DXF, or image format. It compares the existing and proposed elevations to compute cut and fill volumes in cubic yards, applies shrink and swell factors, nets the two, and sizes hauling and disposal. It sizes trench excavation off the utility profiles and measures compaction and fine grading area off the limits of disturbance. Each line carries a High, Medium, or Low confidence flag, and low confidence lines show the math so your estimator verifies in seconds. The takeoff exports to Excel and PDF with every quantity tied to its sheet and location, ready for pricing and bid.
Putting It Together
Earthwork takeoff is a volume and a haul. The cubic yard between the existing and the proposed surface is the bid, and the hauling that follows is where the money goes. Generic takeoff software does not compute volume, and tools that only read the plan view miss the elevations that drive the whole job. Trade specific earthwork takeoff software reads both surfaces, computes the cut and the fill with the math shown, applies the shrink and swell, and reports the haul. Run a sample sheet through any tool you are considering and check whether the output matches the way your bid sheet is built. If you have to compute the volume by hand or apply the shrink factor in a spreadsheet, the tool is not doing the takeoff for your trade.