Dirtwork term
Spoils
also called: spoil pile, excess material
Excavated material that's left over after cut-and-fill on a project, hauled off or stockpiled for later use.
Spoils are what's left of the dirt you dug but didn't put back in the hole. On a balanced site, spoils are minimal. On a site with more cut than fill, spoils have to be hauled off or stockpiled. On a site with more fill than cut, the opposite, you have to import select fill and there are no spoils.
Dealing with spoils is a real line item. Disposal sites charge by the load. Stockpiling on-site for later use ties up usable area. Some spoils, decent topsoil, clean clay, screenings, have resale value to other contractors or landscapers, which can offset the haul cost.
We try to identify reuse for spoils before they leave the site, often a neighboring property needs fill, or the homeowner wants berms or back-acre buildup. Wasted haul-and-dump is wasted money on both ends.
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Related terms
Other words that come up alongside this one
Cut and Fill
Moving dirt from high areas (cut) to low areas (fill) to reach a planned grade, balanced so net hauling is minimized.
Select Fill
Imported soil chosen for known compaction and stability properties, used where native soil isn't suitable.
Mass Grading
Large-scale cutting and filling to reshape an entire site to a planned set of elevations.
Take-off
The process of measuring quantities off engineering drawings to bid a dirt-moving job accurately.
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