I thought I'd post this question here as there are a lot of knowledgeable contractors in this forum. An ex military guy that purchased land about 1/2 a mile from my MX track is wanting to set up a tactical shooting range to rent to law enforcement for training. I don't think it will go ahead because there are too many residences close by. It's basically in someone else's backyard. Anyway, he had planned on building a berm 10 meters high and 100 meters long on 3 sides so roughly 30' high x 900'+ long and figured about $50,000 to construct it. That seems like a low number to me and he'd need to huge hole to get that much material and then it would have to be shaped and packed. Can someone figure out how many yards/meters of material it would take and give an idea on what would be a ball park cost? Would scrapers be the machine of choice for a job like this? I don't think the guy realizes how much material it would take after the material is packed. Thanks in advance for your opinions.
Depending on the elevation and ground water, you could excavate halfway and use the material to push up half as much berm height?
Assuming 1:1 slopes and a 10' top, the base would be 70' wide. The formula for cubic yardage is width x depth x length / 27. Average width would be 40'. Depth would be 30'. Length is 900'. 40 x 30 x 900 =1080000, / 27 = 40,000. $50,000 / 40,000 yards =$1.25 per cubic yard. As Lantraxco mentioned not all of that would need to be handled as some of the height could be obtained by excavating adjacent to the berm. $1.25 is do-able with a dozer with average pushes that are not too long, but it would then require more material to obtain the desired height as a 1:1 slope is too steep to push material up efficiently. If the material needs to be hauled with scrapers, pans, or haul trucks then the cost will go up. Hope this helps.
I concur. Only thing I would add is another option. 1:1 would be terrible to maintain. Erosion, weeds, mowing, what have you. But, just going to a 2:1 slope in effect TRIPLES the yardage. Also, digging a hole will not let you go half in/half out. More like a third due to compaction.
The thing should be down inside a open pit mine/gravel pit. The problem is with ricochet, or slightly raising the barrel (like kickback after the first round) launches them up and over the backstop. We have one right along a busy 4 lane, (albeit handgun and hunting rifles only) but they shoot into a ravine face, stands are down at the creek level, and the face is "u" shaped around them.
Thanks for the great responses. I should have mentioned this is in Alberta where wages are probably the highest in Canada. The shop that did some work on my 931B was charging $135/hr so I imagine contractors with big machines are going to charge even more.
The cat pushes to the berm and a hoe sits on top placing and shaping the sides.
But that will add to the cost having two machines, and $1.25 per cubic yard is no longer realistic.
You may get a bargain now as the oil industry has slowed down so much. Big Ritchie Bros. auction in Edmonton last Tuesday I think.
I'd use a stacking conveyor. No cheaper way to move dirt uphill.
Be advised that the environment is taking a hard look at these berms. Corrections Canada is getting rid of all their outdoor shooting ranges because the back berm contains too much....you guessed it lead. We did the earth work on a new range for the max prison in Renous this year, and once it is completed, the old berm is to be removed, and the lead safely disposed of.
Gonna have to build traps then, eh?
I think it was a 3 day auction. I've been to several Ritchie Bros. there. I think it's one of their largest auction sites and I wouldn't be surprised if they sell close to $100,000,000 over the 3 days.
Interesting concept Grandpa, though there are a lot of variables including the fact that the material would still need to be moved to the conveyor, and the conveyor fed (dozer trap?), plus having 900 lineal feet to build to consider. Add the mobilization of all the pieces and I am not sure that it would pencil out on this volume of material. Having said that, I would not have considered a stacking conveyor as an option, and feel that I have learned something today. Thanks!
The day we quit learning Oxbow is the day the dirt falls in our face.
The material would still need to be packed and shaped. It just seems like it would take a lot more than $50,000 to do it. There's also some brush and stuff that needs to be cleared first that wouldn't take too long but still add to the cost.
If it was close to me I would take the job for 80k but walk at 50k.
grandpa, 80K US, right? He's saying $50K, but in Loonies and that's only $40K in greenbacks, eh?
Slightly less actually, probably around 38k, any way you slice it the price is low.
That's what makes me think the guy just pulled the number out of thin air without actually talking to contractors. However with the economy in the crapper due to the low oil price, contractors may be hurting for work. Probably a non issue as nobody wants the shooting range there.
Hurting for work? Might as well go fishing if one's to lose money on a job just for the sake of working. :my2c