Land Grading/Leveling Help Needed

[JohnsLand]

Hey folks. Been reading the forum, and finally decided to join and ask for some help. Couldn't decide what the proper sub-forum would be so hopefully this works here as I believe scrapers might be the best piece of equipment for this job.

Trying to learn as much as I can regarding grading/leveling before I reach out to contractors and surveyors regarding bidding my project.

I'm looking to convert this land to outdoor parking/storage, so essentially a large parking lot, and would like to get it as level as possible/needed, within reason...cost being the biggest factor as to how much I can grade.

From the front of the lot (right side of the pic), looking at the lot, it goes up hill to the high spot (marked with the 820' elevation), and then it's slightly rolling farm land going back. The south end of the parcel (bottom of pic) has the lowest area at 785' elevation, and would probably be best for water detention (if needed).

Essentially I'm looking at roughly 5' to a max of 35' elevation change in the rolling land, which I'd like to grade/level enough to be a good parking lot. That's the easiest way to explain the project I guess.

Is it safe to assume that the land at the 800+ elevation can be cut, then filled in the below 800' elevation dips to create a parcel that is roughly level at the 800' elevation? Or anyway, a parcel that's more level, even if its graded with an elevation change. Of course I will be bringing on surveyors for the project (I need an ALTA survey, topo survey, and geotechnical survey anyway), then will be giving that data to our civil engineer so that they can do their math...but...before I get that far, I'd like to get a better understanding of what I'm talking about with them, thus trying to do my own research.

Assuming no clay, rock, etc...should this be a pretty straight forward project?

What type of costs might I be looking at in the Illinois market to cut/fill a cu yard (if anyone knows)?

Is there anything in the topo maps that makes this seem like its not doable, or too much trouble?

Total size that we're looking to grade is about 17 acres. Of course some of it wont be needed to be cut/filled, and we'd be cutting/filling on site, no haul off or fill needing to be brought it.

Any thoughts or help on this are very much appreciated!

 

[dozerman400]

I would cut down those 805 elevations to maybe 795 or so and compact 1' lifts in the lower areas. If you grade it flat, you end up with water puddles. Pitch the lot maybe 1' every 100'.I would keep property line the same with 3-1 slope up to your new grades. I'd start with a cat D-8 size dozer and something to compact the material. When the pushes get to far (300' or so) then get scraper's.

 

[JohnsLand]

Thank you for the reply.

I guess I didn't mean "flat" per se, but understand that it should be pitched. I'm looking to make it as "level" as possible as it pitches in any direction. There will be some enclosed RV units as well as canopied parking for boats/RV's, and although we could step those down, since we'll be grading, might be best to just pitch it all at a very small slope so as to keep the parking and structures as "level" as possible. I hope that makes sense. The building/canopy structures will be north to south (so up/down on the pictured maps, the less wide side).

You mentioned you would keep the property line the same. By this you mean you would not grade all of the way to (and including the property line), correct. You would leave the property lines at whatever elevation they are at, then slope up from there to meet the new grades. That would be a 3:1 slope, so pretty quick/steep ramp up from the property line up to the new grade. (Just want to be sure I understand).

The longest run is about 1,300 ft, and the widest run is about 600 ft. (about 17 -18 usable acres depending on how the grading turns out).

Do you have any recommendations on what to do with that high spot (820', right third of the map)? That area (820', 815', 810') would need to be as close to level as possible for our usage (that 3-4 acres) and right now has these 5' or so humps in it. I'd like to cut all of that and make it level, and grade back from there...so was thinking to take that down to level, and push all of that back towards the remainder of the property, fill in as we go, and cutting out any high spots as we go.

Could you clarify what "compact 1' lifts in the lower areas" means? Some quick googling didn't bring up any good answers.

Lastly, an idea what kind of price I'm looking at for the described work. Of course this varies by market, soil conditions, etc, etc...but just trying to see if we're in the $50,000 range, $400,000 range, $1M range, etc.

Thanks again for your response.

 

[dozerman400]

If you fill to the property line, the material will wash out to the neighbor, not good.
1' lifts = when filling low areas go up 1' at a time and compact it untill it is hard before you put another 1' lift on. If you don't compact, you can have a lot of soft ground you can't use.
Cost for this, roughly 2,000 yards of material in a 8 hr day graded would be good. You will have days with way more and less. I don't do priceing, I just get the material moved. That 820 elevation, I think 811 might work there. You could always cut more.
I would check with the village to see if they have any requirments for changing grades on a property.

 

[JohnsLand]

Thanks for your help dozerman400...much appreciated.

Can anyone else give a rough estimate of price. I don't expect to be exact, for obvious reasons, but would be nice to know roughly what I might be looking at.

Also, if dozerman400 or anyone else has any more input, tips, info that might help me, I'd much appreciate it. Again, I just want to have some knowledge on the subject when I start getting bids. Thanks again.

 

[Shimmy1]

Without knowing some actual dimensions on areas that are to be cut and areas to be filled, we are all just shooting from the hip here. IF that high area that is to be cut down is roughly 500' by 500', you could figure an average cut of 10' on that, and end up with around 100,000 yds³ of dirt to move. You also are going to want to salvage topsoil, so 6" of topsoil removal on 17 acres is going to be around 13,000 yds³. "Assuming" that contractors down there will move that kind of yardage for somewhere in the neighborhood of $1 per yard, you are looking at a minimum of $100K, probably more.

 

[JohnsLand]

Without knowing some actual dimensions on areas that are to be cut and areas to be filled, we are all just shooting from the hip here. IF that high area that is to be cut down is roughly 500' by 500', you could figure an average cut of 10' on that, and end up with around 100,000 yds³ of dirt to move. You also are going to want to salvage topsoil, so 6" of topsoil removal on 17 acres is going to be around 13,000 yds³. "Assuming" that contractors down there will move that kind of yardage for somewhere in the neighborhood of $1 per yard, you are looking at a minimum of $100K, probably more.

Thank you for your reply. This is kind of exactly what I was looking for. Some rough estimates on what might needed to be done, and some rough estimates on pricing.

Just for my own knowledge, would this type of dirt moving be done with a scraper, dozer, combination of the machines?

In regards to the topsoil, let's say 5 acres will be paved over (yes our civil will work out the water drainage, detention, etc). Would we just leave the top soil as is, or is it valuable enough to push to the back, and save or sell later, or do you move it, do your grading, put it back, then pave over? What's the proper protocol for the topsoil when paving?

Thanks again for the help. Again, I'm just trying to learn a bit about all of this before I have some contractors on site in the next couple of weeks.

 

[ShaneK]

Thank you for your reply. This is kind of exactly what I was looking for. Some rough estimates on what might needed to be done, and some rough estimates on pricing.

Just for my own knowledge, would this type of dirt moving be done with a scraper, dozer, combination of the machines?

In regards to the topsoil, let's say 5 acres will be paved over (yes our civil will work out the water drainage, detention, etc). Would we just leave the top soil as is, or is it valuable enough to push to the back, and save or sell later, or do you move it, do your grading, put it back, then pave over? What's the proper protocol for the topsoil when paving?

Thanks again for the help. Again, I'm just trying to learn a bit about all of this before I have some contractors on site in the next couple of weeks.

If you're looking at moving over 100,000 cubes over a decent distance as described above, it would seem that your prediction of using scrapers is the correct best piece of equipment for the job.
As far as cost to move the dirt, here's an online calculator tool that i've used to help me ballpark my projects to get my costs down to under 50 cents a cu.yd.

 

[JohnsLand]

If you're looking at moving over 100,000 cubes over a decent distance as described above, it would seem that your prediction of using scrapers is the correct best piece of equipment for the job.
As far as cost to move the dirt, here's an online calculator tool that i've used to help me ballpark my projects to get my costs down to under 50 cents a cu.yd.

Thanks for the link. Is it safe to assume the #'s that pre-populate into the tool are good #'s to use (labor, fuel, consumables, etc)?
Any idea in the Midwest (IL) what costs per cu yard might vary? .50 cents to $1.50 per? $1.00 - $2.00 per?
Again, I guess that's a very loaded question, but as per my research, I don't want to go with bids that are too low (old equipment, wont get the job done on time, poor quality work), but also don't want to pay top dollar just because I don't know any better. The difference between $1 at 100,000 cu yards vs. $2 would be big money though.