Any body here use any of those earth work estimation softwares

[monster76]

I have been thinking about getting one to help with some of the larger projects to try and bid on them but im not really sure which way to go on that if any here has any experience id like some feed back on do's and donts

 

[dirtfan]

There are several good ones out there. Getting set up at first can be a little pricey, but the time saved on dirt quantity takeoffs will soon pay back the cost of the software and the hardware. I have had experience with Agtek, Bid to Win, Topcon 3D, they all are good and just as accurate as the person using them. Whom ever you would purchase from, be sure that they will give continued support and training with the package. Good luck.

 

[RBMcCloskey]

There are three parts to estimating,

1) Quantity Survey, how much work is there to be done?

2) How much time is allowed to get the work done?

3) Estimating Cost, how much is it going to cost to do this work in the allowed time?

I have worked as a estimator for 30 years for myself and some of the largest Contractors in the USA. Kiewit, Perini, Michels to name three, bidding excavations, roads, bridges, NYC subways and tunnels, underground utilities, etc...

I would recommend Trackware, InSite or PayDirt for earthwork and underground utilities. Trackware is very easy to use and can be leased month to month. Excel and Plan swift are helpful for areas and structural volumes.

I use HCSS "Heavy Bid" for Cost Estimating, only HCSS.

Scheduling can be done with a Excel Spreadsheet or Microsoft Project

I would also recommend HCSS "Heavy Job" for Job Cost and Project Management.

If I can be any help, send me a IM

 

[monster76]

thank you there is so many estimation software's out there i cant even count ill check out the ones mentioned

 

[CM1995]

I sat through a demo at Insite back at Conexpo. I liked the system and it's ease of use. When the time comes, I am going to look harder into it. Most of my projects are small enough that can use the old school grid method to calculate excavation quantities. It would cost in the neighborhood of $5-6K to get set up with Insite.

 

[RBMcCloskey]

Check out Trakware http://www.earthworkssoftware.com
You can rent/lease it by the week or month as needed. The purchase is in the $3,000 neighborhood. I love it and have done take-off on very large projects.

 

[monster76]

I just sent them and that insite a request to demo and check out the software thanks guys

 

[CM1995]

RBM does Trakware have the ability to take a PDF set of prints and do the take-off without a digitizer?

 

[RBMcCloskey]

YES, it is a wonderful thing. You can use a PDF, JPG, TIF or AutoCAD DWG.

 

[CM1995]

YES, it is a wonderful thing. You can use a PDF, JPG, TIF or AutoCAD DWG.

I'll check them out, thanks!

 

[monster76]

well this is an old thread I started, sorry to bring this zombie back from the dead. well incase any one is interested I ended up going with planswift I tried several different programs and honestly this is my favorite software we also have the earth work plugin for cut and fill.

earth work plug in is great but a pain as well since it triangulates every point it produces allot of data points and on some projects we have to walk away for about 10 or 15 min for it load

over all

Pros

• Takes offs are much more accurate
• can highlight portions of scope and add list of materials needed as well as scope which is nice for giving crews or sub a specific task within a project
• Can import our takeoff quantities to our excel spreadsheet for estimating
• can make material list to send to suppliers for pricing
• one time cost for initial license
• Going paperless for estimating has been saving us on printing and space

Cons

• Earth work is a separate plugin i feel it should be part of the base package
• cut and fill is a little confusing at first and i feel for what we are paying it could be a little better thought out (although it is an awesome tool)
• logs me out of my computer as soon as i log in my from my laptop since its one user per license

over all I would recommend this to any one who is doing estimating it has been an invaluable tool for us and the ability to do our take offs with much more accuracy has helped us land more projects because we can get allot more bids out

 

[CM1995]

If you don't mind me asking how much did the total bundle cost? PM if you would rather.

 

[monster76]

For earthwork and base program was about 2300 all in

I also forgot the trench tool is real nice as well calculating spoils and imported fill and the numbers have been extremely close to real world figures

 

[CM1995]

For earthwork and base program was about 2300 all in

I also forgot the trench tool is real nice as well calculating spoils and imported fill and the numbers have been extremely close to real world figures

That's not bad at all.

Can you import vectorized PDF's and perform a dirt work takeoff?

I could see where the trenching module would be handy as a shirt pocket. I have a formula in my spreadsheet to calculate bedding by the trench and pipe size, it's fairly accurate but not precise.

With that price point the software could pay for itself on the 1st job.

 

[monster76]

Yes I've opened cad files, tin, eps, pdf etc... they have a 14 day free trial I will say this the site utility starter pack to me was not worth it I had them throw it in in the 14 day trail when I first tried it out and I did not purchase it because the templates and everything was nothing out of this world

yea my favorite thing about the trench tool is you can chose the trench style and bench it slope it or go straight down input width and depth etc... so all I have to is highlight the dig and its calculating totals

 

[Norwegian Steam]

bluebeam for takeoffs, HCSS for Estimating