Cut and Fill Calculator

Field guide: Cut and Fill Calculator

Earthwork is bought and sold by the cubic meter, and the borrow-pit (grid) method is how a site's spot levels become that number: stake a grid, level each intersection, choose a formation level, and every grid square contributes (mean of its four corner depths) × its plan area — cut where ground stands above formation, fill where below. This calculator runs the method live: set grid size and spacing, type spot levels into the grid as your level book produces them, and watch cut, fill and the net balance update.

The net figure drives the money: positive means surplus to haul off-site (haulage rates), negative means imported borrow (supply rates), and near-zero is the graded site's ideal — which is why the formation level field is worth experimenting with: raising or lowering FL a few centimeters often swings the net dramatically, and finding the balance level before the excavators mobilize is this page's best trick. Apply your soil's bulking (cut swells ~10–30% loose) and compaction factors before converting volumes to truck counts.

Field tips

• Try several formation levels and watch the net — the FL where cut ≈ fill is usually the cheapest site you can design.
• Tighter grids where ground breaks: a uniform 10 m grid on undulating ground hides volume that 5 m spacing in the rough corner reveals.
• Volumes here are bank (in-situ) measure — multiply cut by the soil's bulking factor for loose/hauled volume, and fill by compaction factor for borrow needs.

Records are stored only in this browser (localStorage) — export regularly. This tool aids field documentation; it does not replace your agency's official inspection procedures or engineering judgment.