Cut and fill calculator
Work out cut, fill, the site balance and truck loads from a grid of levels, an area and depth, or cross-sections. Free, nothing to install, and nothing you type leaves your browser.
Type or paste the existing ground levels, one grid row per line. Copying a block of cells from Excel works. The example is a 30 m × 20 m house pad on a sloping block.
Every row needs the same number of levels, with at least two rows and two columns.
Enter both grid spacings in metres.
Enter the design level.
The design grid must have the same rows and columns as the existing levels.
The quick method: the area in cut and its average depth, the area in fill and its average depth. Good for a first number; use the grid when you have levels.
For roads, tracks, drains and long batters: the cut area and fill area of each cross-section at its chainage. Volumes use the average end area between neighbouring sections.
| Chainage (m) | Cut area (m²) | Fill area (m²) | Remove |
|---|
Enter at least two sections with a chainage.
Material and trucks
Presets are the middle of the ranges in our bulking and shrinkage table. Use the geotechnical report when you have one, and the real load of your truck.
Add your own rates for an indicative cost
Your rates stay on this page. We don't suggest any: see what cut and fill costs in Australia for how to build them.
Results
| Cut (bank m³) | |
|---|---|
| Fill (compacted m³) | |
| Net, cut minus fill (m³) | |
| Cut once dug (loose m³) | |
| Cut needed to make the fill (bank m³) | |
| Site is long by (bank m³)Site is short by (bank m³) | |
| To cart away (loose m³) | |
| Fill to bring in (compacted m³ · loose m³) | · |
| Truck loads | |
| Plan area of the grid (m²) | |
| Length of the sections (m) | |
| Balance level, where the cut makes the fill (m) | |
| Indicative cost from your rates ($) |
Average depth of each grid cell (m): cut fill
Volumes are geometric quantities. Check them against the drawings, the geotechnical report and the specification before you price a job.
Have the plan, not the levels? SitesAI Estimate works out cut and fill straight from a PDF, DWG or DXF plan, with batters, a 3D check and a priced estimate. Start free: draw the takeoff and check it in 3D. The volume figures and the estimate export come with Pro.
Open SitesAI EstimateHow the calculator works
Cut is ground you dig out because it sits above the design level. Fill is material you place and compact where the ground sits below it. The calculator measures both from the difference between the existing level and the design level at each point, then converts the volumes the way an estimator does.
Grid of levels
The site is split into rectangular cells with a level at each corner. At each corner, depth = existing level − design level, so a positive depth is cut and a negative depth is fill.
- A cell that is all cut or all fill: volume = cell area × the average of its four corner depths.
- A cell the cut/fill line crosses: cut = (cell area ÷ 4) × (sum of cut depths)² ÷ (sum of cut depths + sum of fill depths), and fill the same way with the fill depths on top. This is the standard four-point split. Cut minus fill still equals area × average depth, so nothing is lost or counted twice.
The finer the grid, the closer the answer gets to the real surface. A 10 m grid suits a house pad on a gentle slope. Use 5 m or less where the ground changes quickly.
Area × depth
Cut = area in cut × average cut depth. Fill = area in fill × average fill depth. It is quick, and it is only as good as your guess of the average depth.
Cross-sections
Between two sections, volume = (area at the first section + area at the second) ÷ 2 × the distance between them. This is the average end area method used on roads and drains. It slightly overstates the volume where the shape changes a lot between sections, so space the sections closer there.
From the takeoff to the trucks
A takeoff from levels gives cut in bank m³ (the ground as it sits) and fill in compacted m³ (as placed and rolled). The calculator then works out:
- Cut needed to make the fill = fill ÷ shrink.
- Long or short: cut − the cut needed. A long site has material to cart away. A short site needs fill brought in.
- To cart away = the surplus × swell, because that is the volume the trucks carry. Truck loads = that loose volume ÷ your truck load, rounded up.
- Balance level (grid method): the design level, or the level of the first point when the design has falls, at which the cut makes exactly the fill after shrinkage. Use it to set a pad level that needs no import or export.
The mistake this avoids is treating cut − fill as the surplus. For clay at a shrink of 0.90 and a swell of 1.30, 2,000 m³ of cut and 1,500 m³ of fill leave 433 m³ loose to cart away, not 500. The worked example is in soil bulking and shrinkage factors.
Which method should I use?
| You have | Use |
|---|---|
| Spot levels from a survey, or levels read off a plan on a grid | Grid of levels |
| A building pad or slab and a rough idea of the slope | Area × depth for a first number, then the grid |
| A road, track, drain or channel with cross-sections | Cross-sections |
| A PDF or CAD plan with contours, spot levels and a design platform | SitesAI Estimate: it builds the surfaces from the plan instead of you reading levels off it |
For the full method with a worked example by hand, read how to calculate cut and fill. If you are new to the terms, start with what cut and fill means.
Limits
- No batters. The calculator measures the grid or the sections you give it. Batters around a pad add cut and fill outside it. Extend the grid to the toe and top of the batters, or measure them in a takeoff tool.
- No topsoil strip. Strip is usually a separate quantity that rarely goes back as structural fill. Take it off first, and measure from the stripped surface.
- One material. Swell and shrink apply to the whole cut. Split the job when the geotechnical report shows layers such as clay over rock.
Questions
What is cut and fill?
Cut and fill is the earthworks needed to bring the ground to a design level: you dig out (cut) where the ground is too high and place and compact material (fill) where it is too low. Where you can, the cut is reused as the fill so less material is carted in or out.
How do you calculate cut and fill volume?
Take the depth at each point as the existing level minus the design level, then multiply area by average depth. On a grid, do that cell by cell. For a road or drain, average the cut and fill areas of neighbouring cross-sections and multiply by the distance between them.
What does it mean when a site balances?
A site balances when the cut, after compaction, makes exactly the fill, so nothing needs importing or carting away. Because compacted fill takes up less room than the same soil in the ground, a balanced site has more cut than fill on paper.
Which swell and shrink factors should I use?
Use the factors from the geotechnical report when you have one. Otherwise the presets are the middle of typical ranges: about 1.33 swell and 0.90 shrink for natural clay, and higher swell for rock. Our bulking and shrinkage table lists the ranges by material.
Does the calculator include batters?
No. It measures the grid or sections you give it. Extend the grid to cover the batters, or use a takeoff tool such as SitesAI Estimate, which adds the batters around a design platform for you.
Is what I type saved or sent anywhere?
No. The calculator runs in your browser and does not send your levels, volumes or rates to SitesAI or anyone else. Reloading the page clears it.
Measure it from the plan instead
SitesAI Estimate reads the levels off your PDF, DWG or DXF plan, adds batters, shows the job in 3D and turns the quantities into a priced estimate. Start free in your browser.