Earthwork Tender’s Schedule – What Level of Details You Should Include in it?

The planning and scheduling of earthwork are of major importance in obtaining an efficiently bidding pricing for multibillion construction projects. To plan a schedule, the quantities of clearing, grubbing, and stripping, as well as the quantities and balancing of cuts and fills, must be calculated.

Then, the most efficient type and number of pieces of earth moving equipment could be defined, the proper number of personnel assigned, and the appropriate time allocated.

Earthwork computation involves the calculation of volumes or quantities, the determination of final grades, the balancing of cuts and fills, and the planning of the most economical of material moving. That’s what earthwork planning is. However, how much details we need to include in the bidding proposal where there is no enough SI details and the risk is on the contractor alone on most contracts.

For most big development projects like big residential developments, highways, tunnels, dams, pipelines, plants and mining, the calculation of earthwork during bidding is so crucial for the accurate estimation of the proposal. Although, earthwork calculation, planning and scheduling is still very important for other big development during bidding stage even hopwever, it is small portion of the overall project cost because it will define when you can start the main construction work.

Let’s think about an earthwork bidding for big project development as per the below photo which is approximately two KM by one KM. You will notice the difference levels between the cut and fill areas and the long hauling distance.

On fixed LS lowest biding price, it is so challenging to submit a firm successful bid considering there is no confirmation of the rocks and soil quantities type for such big site. Therefore, the logical steps for best bidding price is to go through the following scenarios:

1-    Calculating the cut and fill quantities as 50% chance the cut material is suitable for backfilling.  

2-    Developing cut/fill balance methodology for each building or equipment location.

3-    Depend on the delivery date and areas, contractor should suggest the required plants/labors for the project.

4-    Depend on cut material, contractor should suggest the requirement for crashing plant and if more soil required from outside the site or if the cut is more than fill to be transferred outside the site.

5-    Defining the best economic hauling distance for each cut/fill for the best use of plant productivity and mobilization planning.

6-    Submitting a confirmed schedule for the bidding or alternative bid.

Here, if you use excel or estimation software (only to calculate the cut/fill quantities and its required machines) to submit their prices, you lose the advantage of a sample process to do cut/fill schedules analysis and methodology to help you define (accurately) the following important answers: –

How many machines do we really need?

When the cut and fill machines start and finish?

Where the machine will work at all times?

If material trips are required to be transferred from or to site, how long the trip will take?

What’s about areas staging delivery for fast track project delivery?

What are the regulation/security requirements for importing/exporting material?

Where is the best nearest crashing plant or do we have to build one on site?

Do we require double handling?

Can we confirm the clients date or not?

The answers to all these important questions can’t be done without having schedules scenarios analysis with its associated cost.

On most big projects development when it reaches to the earthwork bidding, it means the project is approved and it must be delivered within the defined dates. There are a production date or handover dates with heavy penalties. It becomes more critical if the earthworks contractor is not the main contractor.

Here, the experienced contractor who answer all the above questions during bidding stage (which on most times, the client did not request its details) will cover most risks around the earthwork pricing. Although, some client nowadays start requesting detailed planning for early work during bidding including the plants mobilization plan.

Giving firm scenarios and answers to the above questions might confirm (or not) an opportunity for early delivery or better cash flow terms which if presented to the client, it will advance your bidding score. However,in most cases, it will confirm a presentation to the client covering all risks in the earthwork scope.

Therefore, what schedules could be analysed here and for what scenarios?

Can we submit an alternative bid with good opportunity to the client? (if allowed)

Although, if the tender is not requesting an alternative bid, an experienced contractor must deliver an alternative bid to minimise risks if he find it or increase his prices, or not to submit a bid at all.

The schedules scenarios which could be analysed in any earthworks project are:

• Cut/fill analysis balance with 50% chance for (suitable and not suitable soil).
• Cut/fill analysis balance with no transportation.
• Cut/fill analysis with crashing plant on site.
• Cut/fill analysis with crashing plant off site.
• Cut/fill analysis with transportation to dumping area.

• Cut/fill analysis with transportation from nearest borrow pits.
• Direct hauling from cut to fill areas.
• Double material handling.
• Delivery by areas which would partially restrict the machines movement
• Earthwork scope delivery considering soil testing, quarantines regulation and security access.
• Earthwork delivery by layers based on material availability.

Discussing all the above options, means accurate bid pricing, reviling any opportunities, minimising risks and on top of that provide clear strategy for the cash flow and payments terms if possible to discuss it with the client. An example of this is (payments for the material based on approved material purchased orders).

Moreover, for experienced planners all the above work could be done within two days with its associated cost. Therefore, saying there is no time (during bidding) is an excuse for the lack of skills within the proposal team.

Finally, after discussing all the above, are you still thinking you can submit a very good bid pricing without doing the above schedules analysis?

Some clients start realise how much important the early work including the earthwork and plants mobilisation are. Therefore, they include in their bids terms a must request to include the detailed planning for them as part of the bidding submittal.

Best wishes

Engr. Ziad Albasir

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