Every Level AI run produces a cut/fill table: the earthworks volumes for each earthworks area on the site, and a total for the site as a whole.
⚠️ Guidance only
These volumes are measured from the surface Allsite generates during the run. The Civil 3D surface built when you load results is triangulated separately and can differ slightly from it, so the two will not agree to the last cubic yard.
Use this table to compare options and to price the job. Where you need a measurement of the drawing exactly as it stands — for a claim, or a final quantity — build a Civil 3D volume surface from the loaded design and measure that.
Where to find it
In Civil 3D — Tools ▸ Cut/Fill Qty opens the table in a pane, with one column per earthworks area.
In the Allsite.ai web app — Design ▸ Design data ▸ Cutfill, the same table for the project's latest run.
As a CSV — the download button at the bottom right of the pane saves the table for the latest Level AI run to your Downloads folder, ready to drop into a cost estimate.
The pane and the web app lay the table out with one column per earthworks area; the downloaded CSV has one row per area and a TOTAL row. Same figures either way.
Before you read the numbers
Check the units. They sit beside each value in the pane, and in a UNITS row in the CSV. An imperial project reports yd³, yd² and ft; a metric one m³, m² and m. Nothing in the table assumes which you are on.
You will not always see every row. A group only appears when it applies to your site — rock, undercut, trench, staging, contaminated material and floodplain figures are absent unless your model uses them.
The TOTAL is a sum, with two exceptions. MAX CUT DEPTH and MAX FILL HEIGHT are the largest value across the areas, not a total. Adding the deepest cut in one area to the deepest cut in another would not mean anything.
Cut and fill are not expected to match. Bulking, topsoil and unsuitable material all sit between them — see the settings section below.
The area itself
Name | What it is |
EW ID / Name | The earthworks area, taken from the earthworks extent object. TOTAL is the whole site. |
Area | Plan area of the earthworks area. |
Area Of Cut / Area Of Fill | How much of that plan area finishes below existing ground (cut) and how much above it (fill). They will not add up to Area where the design matches existing levels. |
Stage | The construction stage the area belongs to, on a staged project. |
Max Cut Depth / Max Fill Height | The deepest single cut and the highest single fill in the area. In the TOTAL these are the worst values on the site, not a sum. |
Cut
Name | What it is |
Cut | Bulk cut, measured in place (solid measure in the ground, before any bulking). |
Rock Cut, Undercut, Trench Cut | Cut that is priced separately because it is handled differently. Each appears only if your model has it. |
Cut To Managed Fill / Cut To Landfill | Contaminated material, split by where it has to be disposed of. Present only where the model marks material for disposal. |
Bulk Total Cut | Everything excavated: Cut plus rock, undercut and trench cut, plus any contaminated material going to managed fill or landfill. This is the figure to quote as "how much comes out". |
Fill
Name | What it is |
Bulk Fill | Fill required, measured as compacted material in place. |
Bulk Hard Fill, Trench Hard Fill | Imported hard fill, where the model calls for it. Present only if your model has it. |
Bulk Total Fill | Total fill in place, before the bulking factor is applied. |
Bulk Shrink Factor and Fill Bulk Shrink Factor | The bulking factor from your project settings, and the same fill expressed as the volume of excavated material needed to build it once that factor is applied. In the CSV the two are combined into one column named for the factor — "FILL +15% BF.", or "SHRINK …% BF." where the material shrinks.
This is the figure that gets compared against Bulk Total Cut to decide import or export — not Bulk Total Fill. |
Where the material goes
Name | What it is |
Cut To Fill | Material excavated on site and re-used as fill on site. The cheapest movement there is, and the one a balanced design maximises. |
Fill Import To Site | Fill that has to be brought in because the site's own cut cannot supply it. |
Cut To Waste | Excavated material with nowhere to go on site, taken off site. |
Fill From Other Area / Cut To Other Area | Material moved between earthworks areas, or between stages, instead of being imported or wasted. These appear only where there is more than one area or stage. |
Bulk Total Volume | Bulk Total Cut + Bulk Total Fill — the total bulk earthworks handled, which is the volume that drives plant and programme. |
A balanced run tries to drive Fill Import To Site and Cut To Waste to zero. If one of them is large, that is the number to attack — usually by changing the design levels, the bulking factor if it is wrong for the soil, or the earthworks staging.
Trucks
Every Trucks figure is a volume divided by the truck volume in your earthworks settings. Change that setting and every truck count changes with it.
Bulk Import — loads in, from Fill Import To Site.
Bulk To Waste — loads out, from Cut To Waste plus anything going to managed fill or landfill.
Bulk Total — the two added together.
Topsoil To Waste Trucks / Topsoil Total Trucks — topsoil taken off site.
Earthworks Total Trucks — bulk plus topsoil, the whole site's haulage.
Topsoil
Topsoil is stripped before earthworks and placed again afterwards, so it is counted separately from bulk. The depths assumed for both come from your earthworks settings and are noted with the table.
Name | What it is |
Topsoil Str To Stockpile | Existing topsoil stripped and kept on site for re-use. Only non-zero when topsoil stockpiling is enabled, and never more than the design can place again. |
Topsoil Strip To Waste | The rest of the stripped topsoil, taken off site. |
Topsoil Total Strip | Everything stripped: to stockpile plus to waste. |
Topsoil Pl. Fr. Stockpile / Topsoil Pl. Fr. Import | Topsoil placed at the end, split by where it came from — your own stockpile, or bought in. |
Topsoil Total Place | All topsoil placed over the finished design. |
Topsoil Total Volume | Strip plus place. It counts the double handling deliberately — stripping and re-placing the same cubic yard is two operations to price, not one. |
Site totals
Earthworks Tot. Vol. — Bulk Total Volume plus Topsoil Total Volume: everything moved on the site.
Earthworks Total Trucks — bulk haulage plus topsoil haulage.
Settings that change these numbers
If a figure looks wrong, it is usually a setting rather than the design.
Setting | What it changes |
Bulking factor (geotechnical / soil settings, per stage) | The shrink/bulk factor figures, and therefore how much import or waste the design ends up with. Set per stage, or one value for all stages. |
Existing and proposed topsoil depth (earthworks settings) | Every topsoil volume in the table. |
Topsoil stockpile (earthworks settings) | Whether stripped topsoil is kept for re-use or all wasted and re-bought. With it off, Topsoil Str To Stockpile is zero and the topsoil is imported instead. |
Truck volume (earthworks settings) | Every Trucks figure. |
Bulk import / bulk export on an earthworks extent | Forces a volume in or out of that area. The design works around it, so it shows up in Fill Import To Site or Cut To Waste even on an otherwise balanced site. |
Contaminated material disposal (managed fill or landfill) | Adds the Cut To Managed Fill / Cut To Landfill figures, includes that material in Bulk Total Cut, and adds its loads to Bulk To Waste. |
Floodplain level (earthworks settings) | Adds the flood storage figures, which report the change in storage volume below that level. |
Staging | Splits the table by stage and lets material move between stages instead of being wasted or imported. |
Common questions
Why doesn't my cut equal my fill on a balanced design?
Because they are measured differently. Cut is solid material in the ground; fill is compacted material in place. The bulking factor is what converts between them, which is why the balance is struck against the bulked fill figure. Topsoil and any unsuitable material sit outside that comparison as well.
Why is the bulked fill figure larger than Bulk Total Fill?
They are the same fill measured two ways: in place, and as the volume of excavated material needed to produce it.
Why is Max Cut Depth in the TOTAL smaller than the sum of the areas?
It is the deepest cut anywhere on the site, not a total. The same applies to Max Fill Height.
Why do the numbers not match a Civil 3D volume surface?
Two reasons. The table is measured from the surface Allsite generates, and the Civil 3D surface is triangulated separately, so small differences are normal. Beyond that, a volume surface measures the drawing as it stands — the two separate further as soon as anyone edits the design after results are loaded.
Why is a value negative?
On a staged or multi-area site, material moved out of an area is reported against that area as a negative — it has left that area's balance rather than being excavated or placed there.
The schedule of quantities prices the same earthworks as work items, along with retaining walls, drainage and pavement. Reach it the same ways: Tools ▸ SOQ in Civil 3D, or Design ▸ Design data ▸ Schedule of Quantities in the web app. Contact the Allsite.ai support team if a figure in either table does not look right for your site.