Just cleared 10,000 cubic yards of silt from a single pond project

We were working on a big farm pond in Nebraska, and the job sheet said maybe 7,000 yards. After a week with the 8-inch cutterhead, the GPS volume report hit 10,002. I've never pulled that much material from a single basin before. It makes me wonder if we should always add a bigger buffer to our initial estimates, or if that was just a one-off crazy situation. Has anyone else had a project volume surprise them that much?

3 comments

3 Comments

tessa_clark7417d ago

Did you really pull 10,000 yards, because @the_morgan's 8,000 already blew my mind?

the_morgan18d ago

We had a lake job in Georgia last spring where the survey said 5,000 yards. We pulled over 8,000. After that, my rule is to add a 25% buffer to every initial estimate I get from a client. It just saves the headache of reworking the numbers and the schedule halfway through. That pond silt can hide a LOT of extra volume.

julia_miller2411d ago

My buddy had a survey call for 400 yards on a small retention pond in Alabama. They ended up hauling out over 700 before hitting solid ground. It's why I never trust a clean number on anything with old water involved.