Earthwork Calculator
Draw a pond on your land. We read the real ground from USGS LiDAR and give you the dig: cut volume, haul-off, truckloads. Free.
Move the map to your site, then Drag a box to trace it, Tap corners to place them one by one, or Free draw freehand. Every point is draggable; tap one to remove it.
Blackland clay swells about 30% when excavated, so loose haul-off volume runs well above the in-ground number. That is baked into the truck count.
Planning estimate from public LiDAR (about 1 m resolution), not a stamped survey. Confirm with a site survey before you dig or bid.
New here? The 30-second version
This is a free earthwork calculator. You trace the outline of a pond, pad, or excavation on a satellite map of any property, tell it how deep you want to go, and it tells you how much dirt you would move and how many truckloads that is. The trick is that it does not guess at the ground: it reads the real elevation of the land from public aerial-survey data, the same kind of data engineers pay thousands of dollars for. No account, no paywall, no catch.
- 1m LiDAR grid we read the ground at
- 30% heavy clay can swell when excavated
- $0 no account, no paywall, ever
How it works, in four steps
You trace your site
Find your property on the map (search the address or drop a pin), then draw the outline of your pond or dig. Tap corners one by one, drag a box, or free-draw the shape by hand. Every point is draggable, so you can fine-tune it until it matches your land.
We read the real ground
Behind the scenes we pull the actual ground elevation under your outline from USGS 3DEP LiDAR, a nationwide aerial laser scan of the United States. Airplanes fly the country firing laser pulses at the ground millions of times a second and measure how the surface rises and falls, down to about a one-meter grid. It is public and free. That is why the calculator knows whether your land is flat, sloped, or mounded, without you measuring a thing.
We identify your soil
At the same moment we look up your spot in the USDA-NRCS soil survey (SSURGO), the national soil map. It names the actual soil under your outline and its texture, which sets the right excavation swell for the haul-off, and it reports the soil's shrink-swell rating, a separate measure of how much that ground moves with moisture, so you can spot expansive clays. You can override the detected soil any time.
We do the dig math
We build a 3D model of your proposed pond (the rim, the sloped banks, the flat bottom) and subtract it from the real ground. Wherever the ground is higher than your design, that is dirt to dig out (a cut). We add up every bit of it for the total volume, account for the way soil puffs up when you dig it, and turn that into truckloads. This subtract-two-surfaces method is exactly what the professional programs do.
What am I looking at?
Every number on the result panel, in plain language.
Cubic yards to excavate
The headline number: the size of the hole, measured as it sits in the ground. A cubic yard is a block of dirt 3 ft by 3 ft by 3 ft, about what fits in a standard wheelbarrow nine times over.
Loose after swell
Dirt expands when you dig it up, because you are adding air. Packed clay can puff up 30% or more. So the loose pile you actually haul away is bigger than the hole. This is the number that decides how many trucks you need.
Truckloads to haul off
How many dump-truck trips it takes to move the loose dirt. We count by whichever runs out first: the truck's volume, or its legal weight limit. Heavy clay often hits the weight limit before the bed is full.
Tons
The weight of all that soil, shown as a range because soil weight changes with moisture. Useful when a hauler or disposal site charges by the ton.
Max depth & flat bottom
The deepest point of your dig, and how much flat floor it has at the bottom. If the flat bottom is zero, your outline pinched to a point before it reached your target depth (see the tips below).
The cross-section drawing
A side-on slice through your pond, like cutting a cake in half. It shows the existing ground line, the sloped banks with their ratio, and the depth. The vertical scale is exaggerated so shallow digs are still easy to read.
Plain-English glossary
- Cut
- Dirt you dig out and remove because the ground is higher than your design.
- Fill
- Dirt you bring in and add because the ground is lower than your design.
- Bank vs. loose
- "Bank" is dirt compacted in the ground. "Loose" is the same dirt after digging, when it has fluffed up with air. You haul loose, so loose volume is what fills trucks.
- Swell
- How much soil expands when excavated. Sand swells a little (about 12%), heavy clay a lot (about 30%).
- Bank slope (3:1)
- How steep the sides of the hole are. 3:1 means the bank goes out 3 feet for every 1 foot down. Lower numbers (2:1) are steeper; higher numbers (4:1) are gentler and safer.
- LiDAR
- Laser-based aerial surveying. It is how we know the real shape of your land for free.
- Cubic yard (cy)
- The standard unit for moving dirt: a 3 ft cube. Dump trucks are rated in cubic yards.
- Planning grade
- Accurate enough to scope a job, budget, and get quotes, but not a substitute for a stamped survey before you actually dig.
Tips for a good estimate
- Draw the top edge of the pond, where the water's edge will sit at ground level. The banks slope inward and down from there.
- If you see "pinches to a point," your outline is too small to reach the depth you set at that bank slope. Widen the outline, choose a steeper bank (like 2:1), or reduce the depth.
- Match the bank slope to your soil. Firm ground holds steeper banks; loose or sandy ground needs gentler ones for safety. 3:1 is a safe everyday default.
- Pick the right soil. In North Texas the ground is usually Blackland clay, which swells a lot, so it is the default. Change it if you know better.
- Zoom in and drag the corners to trace your land precisely. The closer the outline, the closer the number.
Is this really free? What's the catch?
It is genuinely free, and there is no login. We can do this because the heavy, expensive part, the survey of the ground, is already paid for by the public: the USGS flew the whole country and publishes the elevation data for anyone to use. We wrote the math that turns your outline plus that data into a real dig. The only thing we ask is the obvious one: if you need that dirt hauled off, or you need clean fill delivered, Soil Depot would love to quote it.
What it is: a fast, real, planning-grade estimate good enough to budget and get bids. What it is not: a stamped engineering survey. Before you dig or sign a contract, confirm with a licensed surveyor. We tell you the data resolution right on the result so you always know what you are working with.
Common questions
How accurate is it?
The ground data is about one-meter resolution with roughly 10 to 30 cm of vertical accuracy across most of Texas. The volume math itself is exact for the shapes you draw. So the estimate is dependable for planning and bidding; it is not a legal survey.
Do I need an account?
No. No sign-up, no email, no paywall. Draw and go.
Does it work outside Texas?
Yes, anywhere the USGS has elevation coverage, which is the entire United States. Coverage is finest (1 m) across most populated areas, including all of North Texas.
Why is my haul-off bigger than the hole?
Because soil swells when you dig it. The hole is measured packed-in-the-ground; the pile you truck away has air in it and takes up more room. We do that conversion for you.
Why didn't it reach the depth I set?
On a small pond with sloped banks, the two banks can meet before the floor reaches your target depth, so it bottoms out shallower in a V shape. Widen the outline, steepen the banks, or reduce the depth to get a flat bottom.
Can Soil Depot handle the dirt?
Yes. We haul off excavated material and deliver clean fill, topsoil, select fill, and sand across DFW, Austin, San Antonio, and Houston. Hit "Soil Depot can haul this off" and your estimate comes with you.