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I spent some time reviewing the earthwork sections that will appear on the construction breadth AND depth portions of the test and realized that the books are kind of confusing in their presentation of the formulas. I figured out a way that helps me to remember the formulas easily and these problems should be straightforward free points on the actual test.

First, a few definitions (these go by a lot of different names that mean the same thing).

In Situ, bank measure: soil as it is currently on-site. This is soil that has supposedly been at rest for a while. Even if it was compacted initially it has expanded gradually over to time to be at its current at-rest condition.

Bulk Size, Swell, Transport Size, Loose, Expanded, Excavated: This is soil that has been excavated and is loose. This is used to calculated the volume used while transporting or while sitting loosely in a pile. Click here to continue reading →