Comprehensive Earthworks Estimating: From Quantities to Risk Control | Live, ONLINE

The course works through excavation and backfill planning for both shallow and deep cuts, including scenarios in congested or restricted areas where productivity and equipment choices shift.  It also covers material handling and haul logistics, haul route optimization, slope protection and stability considerations, dewatering needs, and the ground improvement techniques commonly required on civil and infrastructure projects.

Participants will develop productivity-based crew and equipment models, assess indirect costs, and perform risk-based contingency modeling.  Emphasis is placed on understanding how sequencing, site access, material source location, and environmental restrictions affect both costs and schedules.

This course is attended for construction professionals involved in civil and infrastructure works who contribute to earthworks estimating.  It suits estimators and cost engineers responsible for complex earthworks scopes, along with project managers and construction managers who oversee daily earthworks operations.  it also suits field engineers and superintendents whose site experience guides quantity development, sequencing decisions, and realistic productivity expectations.

Learning Outcomes:

The learning outcomes are centered on understanding what the geotechnical reports, site surveys, and tender specifications are telling you and using that information to build solid earthworks quantities.  They include calculating cut and fill volumes, using mass haul diagrams, and pricing excavation, backfill, slope protection, and dewatering in a consistent and straightforward manner.

The course also covers selecting equipment for realistic productivity modeling, identifying points where cost risks may surface, and comparing estimates with benchmarks, previous project records, and current market conditions to confirm the numbers are reliable.

Hands-on Application

Participants will prepare a complete earthworks cost estimate covering excavation, backfill, slope protection, and dewatering.  A case study project will be used to model haul distances, adjust productivity for site constraints, and examine alternative methods for cost efficiency.  Each estimate will be checked against market data and refined to reflect identified risk factors. 

- basic blueprint reading skills

- basic excel use/proficiency

- familiarity with construction methodologies