Excavated soil takes up more space than it did in the ground because it loosens. Ordinary soil swells about 25%, so 100 m³ in place becomes about 125 m³ to haul away.

How many truck loads is that?

Divide the loose volume by the truck bed capacity: a 10 m³ tipper needs 13 trips for 125 m³ loose (round up).

Should I add working space?

Yes for foundations: add 0.3 to 0.5 m around footings for formwork and access before calculating.

Excavation Calculator - Dig Volume & Truck Loads

Bank and loose excavation volume from pit dimensions, with soil swell included.

Inputs

Results

Enter your values - results update instantly.

How This Was Calculated

Assumptions

Recent Calculations

Take this result into your project

You are inside AiLoveKit Build - save the result straight into a project BOQ, or keep estimating with the other construction calculators.

Open your projects

Size the Dig and the Dump Trucks

Earthwork estimates fail when they ignore swell: the hole measures one thing, the spoil heap another. AiLoveKit's excavation calculator gives you both - bank volume from pit dimensions and loose volume with your swell percentage - so hauling and disposal quotes line up with reality.

Planning the Earthwork

Bank volume - what you dig, priced per m³ in place.
Loose volume - what you haul, priced per trip.
Compacted fill - needs about 10% more than bank volume.