General Contractor Practice Exam

If a truck can carry 10 yards of soil and the total excavated soil has a swell factor of 1.2, how many trucks are needed to haul away the soil?

1. 8 trucks

2. 10 trucks

3. 12 trucks

4. 15 trucks

The correct answer is: 10 trucks

To determine how many trucks are needed to haul away the excavated soil with a swell factor, it's essential to understand what the swell factor signifies in excavation work. The swell factor indicates how much the volume of soil increases after excavation. In this case, a swell factor of 1.2 means that for every cubic yard of soil that is excavated, the volume expands to 1.2 cubic yards once it is loose. If a truck can carry 10 yards of soil, the first step is to deem how much material needs to be loaded into the trucks given the swell factor. For instance, if the original excavation yields an amount of soil before swelling, you multiply that by the swell factor to find the adjusted volume that requires transportation. Assuming the total original volume of the soil to be removed is 10 cubic yards (for illustration), the expanded volume would be calculated as: 10 cubic yards (original) x 1.2 (swell factor) = 12 cubic yards (after swell) Now, knowing each truck can carry 10 cubic yards, you divide the total volume of soil that needs to be removed by the capacity of one truck: 12 cubic yards (expanded volume) ÷ 10 cubic yards (