TOPIC 2

Taking-off Quantities for Building &

Civil Engineering Works

PART 1
Week 4 – Week 5
Civil engineering works
Earthworks and Roadworks
 LEARNING OUTCOMES
(CO1-PO1)

1) Define the purpose and

components of a Bill of Quantities in
civil engineering projects.

2) Able to prepare taking of sheet

& quantities for civil work of
earthwork/road
Introduction of Earthwork

Quantity surveying The external work Usually put the

for civil engineering consists of quantity in
work usually also earthwork, provisional sum-
called as roadwork, drainage Subjected to
infrastructure work work, sewerage, remesurement
or external work. water supply,
retaining wall,
bridges etc.
Introduction of Earthwork
Earthwork is the process that involving excavate
(rock as well in the loose material of the earth).

There are four main process in earthwork that is

excavation, transportation, unloading and compaction.

Earthwork mainly carried out at earlier stage of

construction.

Scope of work of earthwork:

Site clearance, cutting, excavation, filling and
compaction and turfing.
Planning Earthwork Construction
Site clearance and excavation work (Section D)
a) Site clearance
• Remove and clear away from site all
temporary building, temporary works and
temporary installation upon completion or as
directed by the S.O
• Gather up and clear away all rubbish as it
accumulated during the progress of the
works and leave the site clean and tidy upon
completion.
• Measured by area in m²/acre/hectare
• Site clearance works includes clearing,
demolition, cleaning and making good on
completion.

Site clearance
 Item Description Unit Quantity
Cut, fell and remove in bulk all tress m2
Irrespective of diameter and height
Including grubbing out stumps, roots
etc including clearing and removing
existing debris, fence, scrapped
materials, abandoned huts, structure
and vehicles (if any) and the like from
site to contractors own dump and fell
remove in bulk all scrubs etc and grub
all stumps, roots and strip off top soil
and removed same off site as directed
by the S.O and as to the requirement
Example of Bill of Quantities of Site Clearance work
of the Department of Environment
(DOE).

Example of Bill of Quantities for site clearance work

b) Excavation
Measured by volume in m³

• Measured the net size of the excavated void with no allowance for
working space.

• Excavation item do not include filling and compaction.

• excavation item is one item and filling and compaction is one item in
the B.Q

• Excavated material can be stated in two, for reuse or disposal

(disposal off site or disposal on site).

• Location of the disposal must be stated.

• Excavated material can be divided into two, suitable material and

unsuitable material.

• Usually top soil, suitable material, unsuitable material, hard material

and rock material excavation is under different item because the rate of
each item is different.
• The excavation start at the Original Ground Level (OGL) and finish at
the Finish Level (FL) Excavation
 OGL
150 mm Top soil

Suitable material

Unsuitable material

Hard material

Rock
FL

Soil strata description for excavation

Item Description Unit Quantity Rate
1 Excavate top soil to a depth 150 mm and m2
dispose off to a designated area
2 Excavation of unsuitable material and m³
dispose off to the contractors own designated area

3 Excavate of suitable material and reuse m³

for filling area
4 Excavate of hard material and dispose off to the m³
designated dump site

5 Excavate of rock and dispose off to the m³

designated area

Example of Bill of Quantities for excavation

c) Filling and compaction

• Measured by volume in m³ (if thickness is not

specify)

• Measured by area in m² (if thickness is specify)

• Suitable material is used for filling

• Filling is carry out layer by layer not more than

250mm thickness

• Each layer must be compacted by vibrator

compactor to achieve more than 90%
compaction.

• Filling and compaction is specify in one item in

B.Q.

Filling and compaction

 Item Description Unit Quantity
Approved imported earth fill obtained from m2
the contractors own source, transport,
deposit, spread, leveled, compacted and
well consolidated in layers not exceeding
250 mm thick including forming and
grading sides of slopes and embankment
as directed by the S.O

Example of Bill of Quantities for filling and

compaction
Example
Original ground level (OGL)
Finish level (FL)

cut
cut
Swamp area
Swamp – flood
with water
Longitudinal section of road
OGL

Cut area
Slope
Slope
FL

Cross section of road @nurkamaliahmustaffa2013

d) Roadwork

• Road consists of sub base, sub grade, crusher

run and premix.

• Measured by m² if the thickness is specify.

• Measured by m3 if the thickness is not specify.

• Filling, spreading, leveling and compacting is

part of roadwork.

Typical cross section of road

Typical Cross Section of Road
Item Description Unit Quantity
1 50mm thick sand (sub grade ) spread, leveled m2
and compacted with 8 ton roller
2 200mm thick crusher run spread, level and m2
compacted
3 Provide and lay 37.5mm thick premix, spread, m2
Level, well rolled and compacted.

Example of Bill of Quantities for Roadwork

Plan view (looking down from above)
Profile view (looking from side)
Cross section view (looking at a
section thru road)
Earthwork:
Method Formulae
a)Cross-section a) Common formulae- mid section

Formulae Method Volume = Area of midsection X Length

= (A1+A2)/2 X ht
b) Simpson’s Rule
Volume = 1/3 ( interval) x (total weighted area)

For even cross section (2,4,6, etc. multiplied by 4)

For odd cross section (3,5,7,etc multiplied by 2)
For end cross section (taken once only)

c) Prismoidal formula
Volume = 1/6 (total length) x ( area of 1st section + 4( area of middle
section + area of last section)

b)Contour method V1= (A1 + A2)/2 X ( difference of two height)

V2=(A1 +A2)/2 X (difference of two height)
Total volume = V1 + V2
c)Grid Method a)Volume =cross section area multiply by the average of mean height
b) Modification factor = cross section area multiplied total weighted
factor
d) Counting Lorries Volume or size of lorry
Road and canals: formulae

sd b sd

d s:1

embankment
Fill
Surface area = bd + 2(1/2 sdd)
= bd +
sd2

Volume = average area x

distance
= bd
average + sd average
Side slope = (s2d2+ d2) ½
= d (s2+
1)1/2
 PAST YEAR QUESTIONS
DEC 2019
CONT.
DEC 2018
JULY 2017
Area of triangle = ½ x h x w