Correct Way To Do Cut And Fill Lay Outs?

ruskent

Seems like every job I do as more compicated grading than the next. Moving a few k yards might not seem like alot to some of you guys, but to go from moving 10 yards of dirt per a job to several thousand per a job, is a big deal for this landscaper!

I am bidding a job with a decent size cut and fill. How do I stake out the area for the cut? Do i need to just check the grade as we perform the cut or are there better ways to do it?

ElIngeniero

Each job is different and it doesn't always work out that you can simply work from one side of the job to the other putting the site on grade. However, that is the ideal way to do it (unless you have GPS/robotics, etc).

ElIngeniero

Also, I hope you're charging to move that dirt! I bid a project recently against a landscaping friend of mine who got slaughtered when he assumed that he could just include the earthwork for free. A few thousand yards is certainly a lot for any landscaper I know--make sure you're not eating it .

neolitic

The traditional way is to lay out
a grid, drive lath and mark them
If it's fill, mark the grade on the lath.
If it's cut make a mark an even foot
measurement above grade,
and mark the lath *cut 1'* (or cut 2'
whatever works out.
On a big job we lay out 100' grids
to start.
Something small or intricate could be
smaller.
On a couple of gardens where it was
all hand work I even marked out
20' grids for finish.

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rino1494

I just put in offset hubs out of the way and mark a line on the stakes. Then for example, I'll mark on the stake a cut 5' or a fill 8'. Make sure you offset your hubs properly so that you can measure back and place them back in the same spot. Sometimes, you have to put in 2 offset hubs for one stake. I'll offset 1 stake 10' and then I'll put the tape on the stake I just set and measure back 20' using the intial stake as a guide for a straight line. Then to find my intial hub, I'll stretch a tape on the 2 offsets and measure back 10'.

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