Excavation Calculator
Bank yards, loose yards, and truckloads — the three numbers digging actually runs on, with the swell in the open.
Quantity only — bank yards, loose yards, loads. No trench-safety, shoring, or slope outputs: excavation safety is an OSHA and site question, never a calculator output.
How the math works
Bank volume = length × width × depth ÷ 27 — the hole as surveyed. Loose volume = bank × (1 + swell %): dug dirt fluffs, and the truck carries the fluffed version. Truckloads = loose ÷ truck capacity, rounded up. Weight = loose yards × loose density. Swell for common soils runs roughly 20–30%; sand sits lower, clay higher.
A worked example
A 20 × 10 × 5 ft excavation is 37.04 bank yd³. At 25% swell it loads out as 46.30 loose yd³ — five 10-yard truckloads — at about 62.5 tons at 1.35 tons per loose yard. The difference between 37 and 46 is the line item that eats unprepared bids.
Questions from the field
What is swell factor? The percentage dirt expands when excavated. A yard in the ground becomes about 1.25 yards in the truck at a 25% swell — you haul and dump the loose number.
How many truckloads is 50 cubic yards? Loose yards ÷ truck size, rounded up. Fifty bank yards at 25% swell is 62.5 loose — seven 10-yard loads.
Does this cover trench safety or shoring? No — deliberately. Sloping, benching, and shoring are OSHA and site-condition questions. This page counts dirt; it never certifies a trench.
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