What is Earth Work In Civil Engineering

For most construction sites, there is need for earth movement especially at the onstage of the establishing the site. This is most obtainable for Building construction sites, Road Construction sites, Etc.

Now Lets understand the meaning of Earth Work

What is Earth Work

Earthwork is a process that involves the movement of a portion of the earth’s surface from one location to another and in a new position. It also involves the establishment of a new position for earth material like sand. Earth movement also involves the creation of a new desired shape and physical condition for the earth material being moved. It is also called Excavation

Earth work involves a lot of processes and because of this, i am going to classify earth work to include the following types:

Types of earth work Or Excavation

1. Topsoil excavation

2. Earth Excavation

3. Rock Excavation

4. Muck Excavation

5. Channel excavation

6. Footing excavation

7. Burrow Excavation

8. Bridge Excavation

9. Unclassified Excavation

Because of the fact that there exist a wide variety of soil encountered on site, many jobs to be done with such soils also, You are therefore going to be exposed to various equipment and methods used in earth work but before this, lets talk about the types of excavation

1.Topsoil Excavation

This is a type of excavation that is associated with the scraping of all vegetation. This type of excavation process is mostly employed during landscaping or when there is need to support the growth of vegetation and control erosion.

2. Channel Excavation

This is mostly common in road construction. It is the process of re-locating a creek or stream usually because its path cuts across a right of way

3. Muck Excavation

This is the process of removing of materials on site which contains an excess amount of water and undesirable soil. This is necessary for all materials that will not have enough strength to sustain a structure during and after construction.

Muck excavation can be used in embankments, Removal of water can be used in an embankments. Water removal can be achieved by spreading muck over a large area and allowing it to dry. This facilitates the reduction of its water content before final disposal or re-use.

4. Earth Excavation

This is a type of excavation that deals with the removal of a layer of the soil immediately under the top soil. The depth is usually not more than 4 meters.

5. Borrow Excavation

Borrow excavation is common with Road construction and building construction sometimes. It describes all the process involved in the obtaining of materials for filling road during construction. Standard requires that a borrow pit is cleared of all pits and debris, then stripped of top soil before the desired material is reached and finally excavated for whatever use it is intended for.

This is the definition of earth work and the types of excavation you should know as a practicing civil engineer.

I hope you’ll find this useful in your practice as a Civil Engineer or in your Examinations