Civil and Sitework Takeoff Guide: Cut-Fill, Grading, Paving, and Utilities

A sitework takeoff turns civil drawings into cubic yards of dirt, tons of asphalt, and linear feet of pipe. This guide walks through earthwork, paving, site concrete, and utilities in plain English so your next sitework bid is built on numbers that hold up in the field.

On This Page

1. What Sitework Takeoff Covers

Civil and sitework, sometimes called heavy civil or just site, covers everything outside the building footprint: grading, parking, sidewalks, storm drainage, sanitary sewer, water lines, landscaping base, erosion control, and right-of-way work. A full sitework takeoff captures all of it.

Scope you should always include

2. Drawings You Need

Before you start a civil-sitework quantity takeoff, collect:

3. Earthwork Cut and Fill

Earthwork is the biggest and riskiest line item on most sitework bids. Get it wrong and the whole job goes upside down.

Cut and fill basics

Cut is dirt you remove from high spots. Fill is dirt you add to low spots. A balanced site has cut equal to fill. Most real sites are cut-heavy (need export) or fill-heavy (need import). That import/export number often controls the whole bid.

Methods to calculate cut and fill

Strip topsoil first

Before cut-fill, always strip and stockpile topsoil, typically 4–8 inches across the developable area. This volume is separate from mass grading and gets re-spread at the end of the job.

4. Swell, Shrink, and Compaction

Soil volume changes state depending on where it is. You need three numbers: bank, loose, and compacted.

Soil volume states

Typical swell factors (BCY to LCY)

Typical shrinkage factors (BCY to CCY)

When you compact fill, it loses volume vs in-place material. Shrinkage factors: sand 5–10%, loam 10–15%, clay 20–30%. So 100 BCY of native clay hauled in and compacted might only deliver 75 CCY of fill. Important: when proposed fill is 10,000 CCY, you may need 13,000 BCY of import to produce it.

Rule: calculate your own cut/fill in BCY from the surfaces, then apply swell to get haul volume (LCY) and apply shrinkage to determine import needed for fill.

5. Paving and Base Course

Paving is measured by area and converted to volume or tonnage by thickness.

Asphalt

Aggregate base course (AB, ABC, crushed stone)

Base course under pavement is typically 4 to 12 inches of compacted crushed stone. Measured by area × thickness, converted to tons (aggregate weighs ~1.4 tons per CY). Apply 5–10% waste for compaction loss.

Portland cement concrete paving

PCC paving for roads, aprons, or heavy-duty pavement is usually 5–8 inches thick. Measured in SF, converted to CY for concrete ordering. SF × thickness (ft) ÷ 27 = CY. Concrete typically has a 5–8% waste factor.

6. Site Concrete

Site concrete covers sidewalks, curbs, pads, and slabs that are not part of the building.

Curb and gutter

Measured in LF. Standard curb-and-gutter sections range from 18 inches wide (stand-alone curb) to 24 or 30 inches (curb and gutter combined). Each foot of standard 24" combined section uses about 0.045–0.06 CY of concrete. Multiply LF × 0.05 CY for a reasonable estimate. Add rebar or fiber mesh as specified.

Sidewalks

Measured in SF, typically 4 inches thick (residential) or 5–6 inches (ADA accessible, heavy use). SF × thickness (ft) ÷ 27 = CY. Form labor and subgrade prep are separate lines.

Equipment pads and bollards

Count pads as each with size × thickness, bollards as each with embedded concrete volume. Small items but easy to forget.

7. Site Utilities

Utilities are measured mostly in LF of pipe plus count of structures.

Storm drainage

Sanitary sewer

Water service

Erosion and sediment control

Often forgotten. Include: silt fence LF, inlet protection each, stabilized construction entrance SF, sediment traps CY, and hydroseeding SF at end of project.

8. Equipment Productivity

Sitework labor is really equipment labor. Productivity depends on the machine and the soil.

Typical production rates

Efficiency factor: theoretical production rates come from equipment manufacturers in ideal conditions. Apply 0.70 to 0.85 efficiency factor to account for real jobsite delays.

9. AI Sitework Takeoff

Manual earthwork takeoff is one of the slowest processes in estimating. AI civil-sitework takeoff tools plus modern earthwork software can speed it up dramatically.

What to expect

PILRS handles blueprint civil-sitework takeoff including paving SF, utility LF, and site concrete quantities in minutes, freeing you to spend time on the parts that need judgment: soil assumptions, equipment selection, and pricing strategy.

10. Putting It All Together for Bid Prep

Sitework bid prep should roll up as: earthwork (in BCY, LCY, CCY with swell/shrink applied), paving (SF → tons), base course (tons), site concrete (CY), utilities (LF by size + structures each), and E&SC (lump sum). Equipment and labor are priced per hour at realistic production rates. Always include mobilization, superintendent time, traffic control if working in a public right-of-way, dewatering if groundwater is an issue, and a contingency of 5–10% because sitework surprises are unavoidable.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you do a sitework takeoff from civil drawings?
Start with the existing conditions (topographic) plan, grading plan, and site utility plans. Compare existing contours to proposed contours to calculate cut and fill volumes in cubic yards. Measure paving and concrete areas in square feet, then convert to cubic yards using the specified thickness. Measure utility runs (storm, sanitary, water) in linear feet by pipe diameter and material. Apply swell, shrinkage, and waste factors based on the soil type.
What is the swell factor for soil in earthwork?
Swell factor is how much a cubic yard of soil expands once you dig it out of the ground and put it in a truck. Typical swell factors: sand 10 to 15 percent; common loam 20 to 25 percent; clay 30 to 40 percent; dense clay 40 to 50 percent; rock 50 to 80 percent after blasting. A cubic yard of in-place clay becomes about 1.3 cubic yards in the truck. You must use swelled volume for hauling calculations.
What is the difference between cut and fill in earthwork?
Cut is soil you remove from high spots where the existing ground is above the proposed finish grade. Fill is soil you add to low spots where the existing ground is below proposed grade. A balanced site is one where cut volume equals fill volume and you do not need to import or export soil. Most real sites are either cut-heavy (export soil) or fill-heavy (import soil), and that import/export line item can be a huge portion of the earthwork bid.
How do you calculate cubic yards of excavation?
Multiply length by width by depth in feet and divide by 27 to get cubic yards (since 27 cubic feet equals 1 cubic yard). For pits or foundation excavation: area times depth divided by 27. For trenches: length times width times depth divided by 27. For mass grading, use the average-end-area method between cross-sections, or just use earthwork software that calculates volume between contour surfaces. Apply swell factor for hauling.
How do you measure asphalt paving for takeoff?
Measure the plan area of asphalt pavement in square feet. Multiply by the specified thickness in feet to get cubic feet, then divide by 27 for cubic yards or multiply by the unit weight (about 2 tons per cubic yard of compacted asphalt, or 110 to 115 pounds per cubic foot) to get tons. Most asphalt is sold by the ton delivered. For a parking lot example: 50,000 SF at 3-inch thick equals 50,000 × 0.25 = 12,500 CF, about 463 CY or 770 tons at 2 tons/CY.
How do you take off underground utilities?
From the utility plan, measure each pipe run in linear feet by pipe type (sanitary, storm, water, gas, electric conduit), size (4-inch, 6-inch, 8-inch, 12-inch, etc.), and material (PVC SDR-35, ductile iron, HDPE, RCP). Count each structure: manholes, catch basins, cleanouts, valves, hydrants. Trenching is separate: LF of trench times trench cross-section equals cubic yards of excavation. Bedding stone (typically 6 to 12 inches below and around pipe) is calculated on pipe length times trench width.
What waste factor should I use for sitework materials?
Sitework waste factors: aggregate base 5 to 10 percent for compaction loss; asphalt 3 to 5 percent for rolling and edge trimming; concrete 5 to 8 percent for over-excavation and sub-base variance; topsoil 10 to 15 percent for settlement and spreading; pipe 2 to 3 percent for cut joints; stone bedding 10 percent for compaction. Earthwork volumes additionally get swell (for haul) and shrinkage (for fill compaction) factors applied separately from pure waste.
How long does a sitework takeoff take for a 5-acre site?
A manual earthwork takeoff on a 5-acre commercial site typically takes an experienced estimator 12 to 24 hours, plus another 8 to 16 hours for paving, utilities, and site concrete. AI sitework takeoff software or dedicated earthwork programs (AGTEK, Carlson Takeoff, InSite SiteWork) can cut cut-fill calculations to 1 to 3 hours, and AI-based utility and paving takeoff can compress those to a few hours. Review and sanity-check always take a human estimator 3 to 5 hours.
How do you read a grading plan?
A grading plan shows existing elevations (usually in dashed or screened contours) and proposed elevations (solid, bold contours). Each contour line represents a constant elevation, and the contour interval (often 1 foot or 2 feet) is shown in the legend. Spot elevations are called out at key points: pavement corners, catch basin rims and inverts, building pads. To understand what is happening, compare existing vs proposed at several spot locations. Where proposed is higher than existing you have fill, where lower you have cut.
What is the typical depth of excavation for a building pad?
Building pad over-excavation depth depends on the geotech report and foundation type. Typical: 12 to 18 inches below slab elevation for engineered fill and aggregate base on a slab-on-grade building. Deeper footings can require 3 to 8 feet of excavation below finish floor. Clay or expansive soils may require 2 to 4 feet of select fill. Always work from the geotech recommendations in the project specifications, not a rule of thumb.
How do you estimate sitework productivity for equipment?
Common productivity benchmarks: a 1.5 CY excavator moves 80 to 150 CY per hour in easy soil, 50 to 80 CY in heavy clay or rock. A D6 dozer pushes 100 to 200 CY per hour up to 300 ft haul distance. A scraper pan handles 15 to 25 CY per load at 5 to 10 minute cycle times. An 11-wheeler (18 CY) hauls 2 to 4 loads per hour depending on distance. Apply an efficiency factor of 0.7 to 0.85 for real-world jobsite conditions to adjust from ideal.
What is the difference between storm drainage and sanitary sewer?
Storm drainage collects rainwater from roofs and pavement and routes it to catch basins, underground detention, or a public storm sewer. Common pipe: RCP (reinforced concrete pipe), HDPE, or corrugated metal pipe. Sanitary sewer collects wastewater from building plumbing and routes it to a sanitary main. Common pipe: PVC SDR-35 or ductile iron. They are taken off separately because pipe cost, bedding, depth of cover, and slope requirements all differ. Never mix them on one quantity line.

Run Your First Civil and Sitework Takeoff Free

No credit card. No setup call. Upload a plan set and see the output in minutes.

Start Free Takeoff Back to Civil and Sitework