Excavation and Backfill Calculator in Excel for Footings and Ground Beams

Excavation is the first site activity, and the first pricing question: how many cubic meters will we dig, how much will we backfill, is the excavated soil enough or do we need imported fill, and how many truck loads to cart away the surplus?

This sheet answers these questions for each group of footings or beams. It calculates excavation with working space around the footing, subtracts what is cast inside the pit, balances available and required soil with compaction and swell, and gives truck loads and cost.

Who is it for?

• Civil and site engineers
• Earthworks contractors pricing jobs
• Quantity surveyors preparing bills of quantities

What is inside the sheet?

• Settings: working space, blinding thickness, swell, compaction, truck capacity and rates
• A table for fifteen element groups with count, dimensions, excavation depth, footing thickness and neck
• Excavation, structure and backfill volumes per row and in total
• Soil needed for backfill, surplus or imported fill, loose volume and truck loads
• Estimated cost of excavation, backfill and haulage

How to use it

1. Adjust the settings for the site and the soil report.
2. Enter each group of identical footings: count, length, width and excavation depth.
3. Enter the footing thickness and the neck cross-section and height up to backfill level.
4. For ground beams enter count 1 with the total length and leave the neck at zero.
5. Read the results: excavation, backfill, surplus, trucks and cost.

Formulas used

• Excavation = count × (L + 2 × working space) × (W + 2 × working space) × depth
• Structure = count × [(L + 0.2) × (W + 0.2) × blinding + L × W × footing thickness + neck area × neck height]
• Backfill = excavation − structure
• Soil needed = backfill × (1 + compaction)
• Trucks = ROUNDUP(surplus × (1 + swell) ÷ truck capacity)

Worked example from the sheet itself

The example has 18 footings in three sizes and 96 m of 30 cm ground beams.

• Excavation 227.59 m³, structure 67.63 m³ and compacted backfill 159.96 m³.
• Soil needed for backfill with 15% compaction = 183.95 m³, leaving 43.64 m³ surplus.
• Surplus after 25% swell = 54.55 m³, which needs 4 loads with a 16 m³ truck.
• Estimated cost SAR 8,615.66.

Tips for best results

• In loose soil or deep pits increase the working space to reflect side slopes, or add a row for the extra volume.
• If imported fill is needed, price it separately since it has to be bought and hauled.
• Swell and compaction depend on the soil type; take them from the soil report when available.

Frequently asked questions

What is working space?

The extra room around the footing on each side so workers can fix formwork and waterproofing, usually 30–50 cm.

Why is the soil needed more than the backfill volume?

Soil compresses when compacted, so you need more in-place soil to fill the same volume.

What is the difference between in-place and loose volume?

Soil bulks up after excavation, and trucks are counted on the loose volume.

Download the sheet

Press the download button at the top of the page to get the Excel file. It includes a full guide sheet, yellow input cells and formulas protected from accidental edits. The sheet is also available in Arabic from the language switcher.

Figures are estimates for planning and pricing and follow the soil report and project specifications.