How much fill material will be needed for the column footing pads assuming a compaction loss of 15%?

To determine the amount of fill material needed for the column footing pads while considering a compaction loss of 15%, it’s essential to first clarify the process involved in calculating the fill quantity.

When fill material is placed, it often undergoes compaction, which can lead to a reduction in volume. In this scenario, a 15% compaction loss indicates that only 85% of the fill material will remain after compaction.

If the desired volume of fill material needed for the pads (before compaction) is calculated to be 3 cubic yards, it means that after the compaction, only 85% of that volume will be effectively realized. Therefore, to find the volume of fill that must be initially provided to account for the 15% loss, you can set up the equation:

Let V be the required fill volume before compaction. Given that after compaction 85% of V equals the desired volume, you can express it mathematically as follows:

0.85 * V = Desired Volume

To find V, rearranging the formula gives:

V = Desired Volume / 0.85

When assuming the desired volume is 3 cubic yards, the calculation becomes:

V = 3 cubic yards / 0.