Core TradesQuestion 58 of 700

A building pad requires 200 compacted cubic yards of engineered fill. If the borrow soil shrinks about 20 percent when compacted, how many bank (in-place) cubic yards must be excavated from the borrow site?

a.160 cubic yards
b.180 cubic yards
c.200 cubic yards
d.250 cubic yards

Explanation

Because compaction reduces volume by 20 percent, bank volume = compacted / (1 - 0.20) = 200 / 0.80 = 250 bank cubic yards. Using 200 ignores shrinkage, and 160 or 180 apply the factor in the wrong direction.

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