Estimators commonly use Kubla Cubed for volume measurements and use another 2D take-off program to area measurements calculating the paving volumes by multiplying the area by the thickness. While this a straightforward approach, it may involve measuring the same areas twice—once in Kubla Cubed and once in the other program. This can be timeconsuming, requiring the importation of site plans twice and scaling and stitching twice.
Kubla Cubed offers a more streamlined alternative. The first method involves using the ‘Area’ element found in the ‘Measurements’ panel. With this, you can take-off area measurements and use the 2D Boundary Area in the ‘User Input’ reports for paving estimates. While effective, it does not use 3D areas and may require you to retrace areas previously traced during the bulk earthworks phases. Neverthelesss, it does eliminate the need to import site plans into another program
|
Choosing between 2D or 3D Areas Before using areas to calculate paving volumes, it is worth considering whether to use 2D or 3D areas. The 2D areas reported are the same as if measured from a paper plan, often the traditional approach to estimating paving volumes. The 3D areas take into account the surface area of the topography and will always be the same or larger than the 2D area. While 2D areas are generally sufficient for calculating paving, 3D areas might be necessary on steep inclines where the surface area in 3D is far greater than when viewed from above. For instance, when calculating the turf needed for a golf course, relying solely on a 2D area might leave you considerably short of the true requirement. |
Another method to obtain the areas is to use the disturbance areas from the earthworks estimation. You can choose between he 2D areas or 3D areas based on your requirements. If you have set up your bulk earthworks in either of the following ways :
- A. Using the ‘Offset Method’, where different paving areas are represented by different elements.
or
- B. Using the ‘Reduce Method’, where different paving areas are being reduced by different 'Reduce' elements.
Then the ‘Volumes by Element’ in the 'Estimation Spreadsheet' can be used to find the areas of the paving. Both 2D and 3D areas are available depending on your requirements.
There is one catch with this method: if an element does not actually change the ground in a specific area, for instance, if an earthworks element only ends up changing 70% of the ground (i.e., some of the proposed levels match the ground level), the disturbance areas will not report the whole area. Therefore, it cannot be used for paving calculations. Another issue may arise when disturbance areas include the side batter of an element, which may not be what’s required. In this case, another method would have to be used.
|
Why not use Boundary 2D Areas contained in the User Input Reports? It is possible to use Boundary 2D Areas reported in the 'User Input 'reports for this task, but there are a couple of issues. Firstly, they report the area of the boundary outline, which does not include the side slopes of the earthworks (although this might be desirable). A potentially more significant problem relates to intersecting earthworks elements. If two earthwork elements intersect, the one lower in the calculation order will report in the area of intersection. Tthis means you will not get double reporting of disturbance areas (2D or 3D) or volumes. However, the 'User Input' areas do not have this benefit so the areas will double report paving if two earthwork elements intersect. |