Over Excavating

Over-Excavation is a common practice on building sites before grading to subgrade. This program allows the user to calculate the volumes of the over-excavation by creating a new surface at the over-ex grades and comparing it to the existing ground.

Below is an example using the Over-Ex Guide with Lesson5.esw file, which was installed with the program. It should give a general idea of how to figure the over-excavation quantities.

Staging Over-Ex to Existing

  • Open the Lesson5.esw file. Switch to Entry Mode and press the Over-Ex button on the Utility Tool Bar.

  • Select the first item on the guide, Create New Surface, using the Left Mouse button. The Create New Surface window displays with Current as the default name. Press OK to continue. The screen switches to the new Surface.

  • Press the Over-Ex button to displays the guide and select Copy OG into New Surface. You will have the option to select Existing or Stripped if the file contains stripping regions. The existing ground data displays in the Data Lines Layer of the Current Surface.

  • Press the Over-Ex button and choose Create Over-Ex Surface from the guide. The Over-Ex surface displays with no data.

  • Display the Over-Ex guide and select Enter Over-Ex Data. For this part, we will be using the pad on the left side of the job.

 

  • Switch to Edit Mode and change to the Data Lines layer of the Design Surface. Place the arrow over the pad data line and select it. Press Ctrl-C or choose Edit>Copy from the menu.

  • Switch back to the Over-Ex surface and Paste the data using either Ctrl-V or choose Edit>Paste from the menu.

  • From the Over-Ex surface, Select the pad line and press the Offset Line button or type Ctrl-O

  • Run an Offset Line outside the pad 5 feet at 0% slope. Press the View button to view the line and make sure it is on the outside of the pad. Press Apply to add the line, and Close to close the Offset Line Editor.

  • The pad line remains selected. We don’t need this line anymore, so press the Delete button to remove the pad line from the Over-Ex Surface.

  • Select the 5 foot offset line and choose Edit>Raise/Lower from the menu.

  • Type 10 in the Lower Elevation textbox and press OK. This lowers the offset line from the pad to the over-excavation level.

  • With the line selected, press the Offset Line button. This time we want to run an offset line to daylight at 2:1 slope.

  • Check the Day Light checkbox. Type in 2:1 or 50 in the Start of Line Slope % textbox. Press the View button to view the line and make sure it is on the Outside of the pad, Apply to add the line, and Close to close the Offset Line Editor. The screen should look like the one below.

 

  • Switch to Entry Mode. Press the Over-Ex button to display the guide and choose Enter Staging Areas.

  • The Layer Menu switches to Stage Areas. Place the arrow over the offset sloping to daylight line and press F8 twice to area snap the stage area to the line. Press the Right Mouse button twice; once to end snap and another to end data entry.

  • Display the Over-Ex guide and choose the last item, Stage Over-Ex. The screen switches to Edit Mode displaying the staged data.

 

  • Press the 3D View button to change to view the 3D Terrain. Switch the Ref surface to Current and the Diff surface as Existing.

  • With Current and Existing selected as the surfaces to compare, press the Calc Volume button to calculate the volume of the over-excavation area. The results display in the Volume Calculation Report pop-up. To view the full report, switch to the Volume Report Mode.