3 Best Earthwork Estimating Software

If you work in the construction or the civil engineering business, you’ll know how important earthwork is.

When starting a project, making sure that your budget covers the excavation and earthwork as well as the building is key.

If you work as an excavator, you’ll want to make sure that you can provide accurate and detailed estimates. Most professionals will use estimating software to help them provide estimates.

But what is the best earthwork estimating software? We’ll give you a breakdown of the 3 best software tools currently available.

Here’s What We’ll Cover:

What Is Earthwork?

How to Calculate Earthwork Estimates

3 Best Earthwork Estimating Software

Key Takeaways

What Is Earthwork?

Earthworks is an engineering process where you break down or cut sections of the earth to allow for stable construction.

Earthwork is most commonly used in the construction of dams, roads, bridges and homes.

How to Calculate Earthwork Estimates

The most commonly used method is named the “average method”. It is best used for small projects when you need to determine levels at each grid point.

It’s the most simple to use method with a very straightforward formula:

Volume = Area * Difference between the average of two sets of levels.

3 Best Earthwork Estimating Software

1. FreshBooks

FreshBooks’ user-friendly services are perfectly tailored towards small business owners. It is smart, manageable software that is easy to use.

With invoices, payments, credits, and other financial information in one place, it’s easy to keep track of your employees and your clients.

FreshBooks allows you to set clear expectations with your estimates and proposals. It helps you to take the guesswork out of your planning and get you and your client on the same page.

You can also easily create proposals to win new projects. It’s key features allow you to clearly outline a project’s scope, timeline and deliverables. So there is no room for confusion when it comes to your clients.

They offer a free trial which means you can try it out to see if it fits your business before putting any money down.

Once your trial is up, FreshBooks’ basic plan offers its ‘lite’ services for just $19.00 per month which makes it a more than affordable solution.

2. HeavyBid

HCSS HeavyBid is an estimating and bidding software tailored for the construction industry.

It helps users build estimates and manage their daily bids whilst automating repetitive tasks based on tracking data. You can also break down complex work into more manageable pieces and organize estimates to fit your needs.

HeavyBid is suitable for earthwork companies of all sizes and they offer 24/7 instant customer support via phone and email.

It’s a popular choice and is used by more than 50,000 estimators.

One of the downsides of HeavyBid is that they don’t offer a free version so you can’t try before you buy.

Their basic service which is aimed towards smaller businesses starts at $170 per month. This scales up to $295 per month for their premium package which is tailored towards larger companies.

3. PlanSwift

PlanSwift is a popular construction software. It is designed for commercial, industrial, institutional and residential contractors. It is a fully adaptable software that can be used in almost every construction trade.

They have a visually forced, point-and-click interface that is easy to use and manageable.

PlanSwift calculates the takeoffs of any project automatically which saves you time and effort when bidding on jobs. It also provides a way to calculate digitized values, including labor and material costs.

They offer a free trial with no credit card required. They then only offer one plan which is a lifetime purchase of $1595. They also offer a 1-on-1 custom training service for $300 to help you make the most of the software.

Key Takeaways

Estimates are an important part of the construction process. They help paint a clear picture and go some way to ruling out any costly mistakes.

Using earthwork project estimate software is an industry-standard. It allows you to provide detailed and accurate project estimates. You can ensure that your client has all of the information needed to make their decision.

Are you looking for more business advice on everything from starting a new business to new business practices?

Then check out the FreshBooks Resource Hub.

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