What this guide helps you decide
Use this guide to keep bank, loose, and compacted cubic yards separate so excavation, truck capacity, disposal, and placed-fill quantities are not mixed.
Use the Swell, Shrink, and Spoil Calculator for volume changes, then send the supported loose tons and density to the Dump Truck Cycle and Hauling Cost Calculator when repeated hauling is part of the job.
Bank volume
Bank cubic yards describe material in its original undisturbed position.
Loose volume
Excavation introduces voids, so loose material generally occupies more volume for trucks and stockpiles.
Compacted volume
Placed and compacted material may occupy a different volume than both bank and loose material.
Factors vary
Soil type, rock, organics, moisture, excavation method, and compaction specification change the result.
Engineered work
Use geotechnical information and project specifications rather than a general planning factor when quantities affect design or payment.
Put this guide to work
Label every quantity BCY, LCY, or CCY before calculating. Measure excavation in bank volume, plan truck and stockpile space in loose volume, and use the project specification or geotechnical direction for compacted fill.
Compare estimated loose volume with scale tickets, counted loads, and measured payloads after the job. Update a material factor only when the source material, moisture, excavation method, and unit definitions are comparable.
Write the unit into the quote
State whether a quantity is bank, loose, compacted, measured in place, supported by tickets, or estimated from truck capacity. Identify who bears the cost when actual material differs from the allowance. Clear unit language makes excavation, trucking, disposal, imported fill, and compaction quantities easier to reconcile without pretending a planning factor is a field measurement.
Worked bank-to-loose volume example
Assume a measured excavation contains 100 bank cubic yards (BCY) and project-specific information supports 20% swell. Loose volume = 100 × (1 + 0.20) = 120 loose cubic yards (LCY). If measured usable truck capacity for this material is 12 LCY per load, the planning count is 120 / 12 = 10 loads.
If the same bank material is expected to produce 90 compacted cubic yards (CCY), that is a separate 10% shrink relationship: 100 × (1 - 0.10) = 90 CCY. Do not subtract the swell percentage from loose volume to infer compacted volume. Bank-to-loose and bank-to-compacted factors answer different questions and need their own support. The percentages are illustrative, not default soil factors.
Conversion and quote checklist
- Label the starting measurement BCY, LCY, or CCY and state how it was measured.
- Record the soil or material description, moisture, rock or organic content, source, and date of the factor.
- Use the swell and shrink calculator without changing units midway through the calculation.
- Check loads against legal weight and measured payload, not nominal body volume alone.
- State the allowance and change trigger when tickets or field conditions differ from the estimate.
Source note: Project specifications, geotechnical information, survey quantities, test results, supplier data, scale tickets, and measured truck payloads should control whenever available. Use the bulk material guide for density and placed quantities and the dump-truck hauling guide for the supported haul plan.
Swell, shrink, and spoil questions
Can one swell factor be used for every soil?
No. Soil type, rock content, organics, moisture, handling, and compaction requirements can materially change volume. Use project-specific information when quantities affect design, payment, or compliance.
When should a conversion factor be rechecked?
Recheck it when soil, rock, organics, moisture, excavation method, source, specification, compaction effort, or the measurement basis changes. Preserve the evidence and date with the estimate.
Can a planning factor control engineered quantities?
No. Project specifications, survey measurements, geotechnical direction, testing, payment rules, and qualified engineering requirements control where design, acceptance, or payment depends on the quantity.
Apply the conversion to machine production
After labeling BCY, LCY, or CCY, use the production and unit-cost calculator to connect the documented conversion with bucket capacity, cycle time, efficiency, and cost.