haul bulkage

A measure of the increase in volume of an insitu portion of soil or rock, due to expansion and loosening occurring as a result of its excavation. Bulkage is a common result when soil is excavated from a site in its natural insitu state and placed into stockpile, or moved elsewhere during construction activities. Its measure provides a means of computing the volume of loose material to be hauled, and therefore the number of loads required at a particular load capacity.

The expected haul bulkage for a given soil can be expressed as a percentage of the initial soil volume. For example, a haul bulkage factor of 8% indicates that the soil will expand to occupy a volume 8% larger than it occupied prior to excavation. This value can also be expressed as a multiplication factor. For example, a soil with a haul bulkage of 8% will have a multiplication factor of 1.08.

See also shrinkage and haul compaction.