Bank vs. loose yards
What's the difference between bank, loose, and compacted yards?
A bank yard is soil measured undisturbed in the ground. A loose yard is the same soil fluffed up in a pile or truck, roughly 1.2 to 1.3 times bigger. A compacted yard is soil compacted in place, often 0.9 times the bank volume or less.
One material, three measurements:
- Bank: in its natural, undisturbed state. What you measure when you size the hole.
- Loose: after excavation. Swell of 20 to 30 percent is typical for soil; rock can swell 50 percent or more.
- Compacted: placed and compacted. Usually a little denser than bank, so 100 bank yards of cut does not build 100 yards of compacted embankment.
Where it costs money
Trucking runs on loose yards: a 100 bank-yard basement dig is 120 to 130 loose yards of hauling, which at 12 yards a load is two to three extra trips someone has to pay for. Fill orders run the other way: building up a pad takes more delivered loose yards than the neat-line volume suggests, because it compacts down.
The fix is habit, not genius: decide which yardage every number in the bid refers to, and convert once, in writing.