Abstract

Volume estimation and earthworks calculation of borrow pits and roadway constructions are typical applications in civil Engineering. Although several methods for volume estimation were introduced, the average end area method still the common method used by owners and contractors. Average end area method is tedious and time consuming. Volume of terrains that do not have regular geometric structure can be obtained more accurately by using 3D models of surfaces with respect to developing technology such as GIS. The gridding method and point distribution are important factors in modeling earth surfaces used for volume estimation. In this study the credibility of 3D volume estimation based on raster GRID or Triangular Irregular Network (TIN) using GIS was investigated. The effects of interpolation method and point distribution in defining a terrain surface were also investigated. For this purpose, an artificial surface with a known volume that used by Chen and Lin in their paper is employed. The 3D surface and volume are calculated for both surfaces represented by TIN and GRIDs generated by using 6 different interpolation methods. The resultant volumes were compared to the exact volume and to that estimated by using average end area method. Moreover a comparison between cut and fill volumes needed for grading the study cases at a certain elevation was done. The results show that for gentle slope surface, TIN and all interpolation techniques gave results very close to the exact except Kriging and Trend interpolation. For steep slope terrain, Kriging interpolation gave the best results. Comparing earthwork volume to the average end area method, TIN surface, IDW, Topo to raster and Nearest Neighbor methods gave the best results.

Highlights

  • As an important engineering application, volume calculation is used in various fields such as reserve estimation of mine sites and determination of the excavation and earth fill for sites such as roads, airports and tunnels (Yilmaz, 2009)

  • The 3D concept was used by Du and Teng (2007; Bao, 2011; Kerry et al, 2012; Bhatla et al, 2012) where a digital Elevation Model (DEM) was created for the surface a Triangular Irregular Network (TIN) was generated and earthwork quantities were computed by comparing the TIN of original terrain to that of the finished project

  • In this paper Geographic Information System (GIS) techniques for volume computation are discussed. These techniques depend mainly on generating TIN or raster GRID to represent the surface under which the volume is computed

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Summary

Introduction

As an important engineering application, volume calculation is used in various fields such as reserve estimation of mine sites and determination of the excavation and earth fill for sites such as roads, airports and tunnels (Yilmaz, 2009). Different mathematical models were suggested by Easa (1988; Chambers, 1989; Chen and Lin, 1991; Davis, 1994; Easa, 1998; Yanalak, 2005; Yilmaz, 2010; Mukherji, 2012; Khalil, 2014) to estimate the volume of pit excavation. Earthwork calculation for roadway construction was investigated by many researchers. Mayer and Stark (1981; Epps and Corey, 1990; Easa, 1992a; 1992b; Moreb, 1996; Kim and Schonfeld, 2001; Easa, 2003; Goktepe and Lav, 2003) developed methods for roadway earthwork calculation in 2D depending on using average end area or improvements in it. The 3D concept was used by Du and Teng (2007; Bao, 2011; Kerry et al, 2012; Bhatla et al, 2012) where a digital Elevation Model (DEM) was created for the surface a Triangular Irregular Network (TIN) was generated and earthwork quantities were computed by comparing the TIN of original terrain to that of the finished project

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