South Carolina Grading

Type 1 exists when actual conditions differ materially from those indicated in the contract, while Type 2 arises when actual conditions differ from what would reasonably be expected; neither relieves the contractor of the duty to thoroughly examine project conditions.

A structure erected over a depression or obstruction carrying a passageway for traffic is a bridge rather than a culvert when its length measured along the center of the roadway is more than 20 feet.

A double horizontal line means 'and then' — everything below it is measured from the RS/RP (reference) point, while a single line means all measurements and elevations are taken from the surveyor's hub beside the information stake.

The front-end loader bucket standard rates material above the struck load at a 2:1 angle of repose, whereas shovel and hoe buckets are rated at a 1:1 repose angle.

Excavation quantity is figured in bank yards (in-place volume), but haul-off and truck loads must be figured in loose yards after applying swell — dividing bank volume by truck size under-counts the loads.

Tires are deducted from the delivered price and carried as an operating cost (about 35% of a haul truck's operating cost) because they wear out faster than the machine, and normal maintenance repairs are operating costs, while major repairs and overhauls that extend service life are ownership costs added to the adjusted basis and depreciated.

For estimating, a diesel engine consumes about 0.04 gal per flywheel-horsepower-hour while a gasoline engine consumes about 0.06 gal per flywheel-horsepower-hour.

A two-cycle diesel holds full power to 1,000 ft and then loses about 0.9% per additional 1,000 ft (its low-pressure intake blower), while the four-cycle rule is about 3% per 1,000 ft.

PCSA data assume mechanical machines split repair cost half materials/parts and half labor, while hydraulic machines are two-thirds materials/parts and one-third labor.

Cars and light-duty trucks under 13,000 lb unloaded are 3-year property, while most other pieces of construction equipment are 5-year property.

For barrier curb, good practice is to cut the subgrade 2 feet behind the back of curb so the crew can set forms or run the curb machine, whereas the 6-inch figure applies to how far behind an extruded (glue-down) curb aggregate must be placed.

The normal minimum offset is 2 feet for forming, but surveyors must set a 3-foot offset to back of curb when a concrete machine is used on Type 2 or Type 1-A curb so the men and machine have room to work.

When the surveyors show a cut, the road/parking section thickness is added to the cut to get the cut to subgrade — but the grade setter adds slightly less than the full section (e.g., 0.60 added to a 1.20 cut for an 8-in./0.66-ft parking section = 1.80) to leave the grade about 0.06 ft high for compacting; when they show a fill, the fill is ADDED to the rod reading before the full road section is subtracted (4.20 + 0.50 − 0.85 = 3.85 subgrade).

Code 110 is an open code for extraordinary circumstances (hurricanes, floods, ice, acts of God) requiring the excavator to wait until after the date and time the operator posted, while the three-hour No Show remedy applies to an operator that fails to respond where there are indications of an unmarked facility.