Cost
Trenching Cost Calculator
Price a run of trench per linear foot, per cubic yard or by the hour — with backfill, bedding and restoration.
Excavated volume
cubic yards
Waiting on you
Quantities are ready. Enter your rate per linear foot to price the job — we deliberately do not assume a market rate.
- Linear feet
- 250ft
- Cross-section
- 10ft²
- Surface disturbed
- 500ft²
The working
Section = Width × Depth
= 2 ft × 5 ft
= 10 ft²
Volume = Section × Length
= 10 ft² × 250 ft
= 92.59 cu yd
Trenching is bought three different ways depending on who is buying, so this tool prices it all three ways from the same geometry. Enter the run and the section, choose how you are pricing, and add the parts of the job that usually get forgotten: bedding, backfill, compaction and putting the surface back.
How this calculator works
- Formula version
- 1.0.0
- Last reviewed
- 2026-08-14
- External data
- None
This tool uses only your inputs and exact unit conversions. No benchmark, average or market figure is built into it. How we calculate
What this calculates
The cost of a run of trench, priced the way you actually buy it, with the associated works that turn a hole in the ground into a finished job: bedding, backfill, compaction, spoil removal and surface restoration.
Three pricing methods, one geometry
Per linear foot is how trenching is normally quoted, because the section is usually fixed for a given run. Per cubic yard is how it is measured when the section varies. Hourly is how it is priced when nobody can commit to a rate — congested services, unknown ground, hand digging.
All three start from the same cross-section, so switching methods never changes the quantities, only the way they are priced.
What gets forgotten
The excavation is rarely the expensive part. Bedding has to be bought and delivered, backfill has to be placed and compacted in layers, spoil has to be carted and tipped, and whatever was on the surface — asphalt, kerb, turf — has to be put back. Each of those is a separate line here so it stops being a surprise.
Surface restoration is applied to the trench width at grade, which is wider than the bottom width whenever the walls are laid back.
Worked example
The rate below is an illustrative input, not a market figure — the point is the arithmetic.
250 ft of 24 in × 5 ft trench at $18.00 per linear foot
- Length
- 250 ft
- Section
- 24 in wide × 5 ft deep
- Rate entered
- $18.00 / linear ft
- Section area= 2 ft × 5 ft= 10 sq ft
- Volume= 10 × 250 ÷ 27= 92.6 cu yd
- Trenching= 250 ft × $18.00= $4,500.00
- Cost per cubic yard= $4,500 ÷ 92.6= $48.60
- The cross-section is constant along the run and the ground surface is level.
- Backfill is the excavated volume less the bedding layer, measured in place.
- Part loads of spoil are charged as full loads.
- Every rate and percentage is supplied by you.
- It does not price the pipe, cable, duct or fittings going into the trench.
- It does not price rock breaking, dewatering, service diversions or traffic management.
- Bedding is modelled as a rectangular layer, which slightly overstates the material where haunching is specified around a pipe.
Common questions
- How much does trenching cost per linear foot?
- It depends on the section, the ground, the depth and what is already buried nearby, and it varies widely by region — so this calculator asks for your rate rather than publishing an average we cannot source. Get a local quote, enter it, and the tool will show you what that rate implies per cubic yard and where the rest of your cost is going.
- Should I price per foot or per cubic yard?
- Per foot when the section is fixed for the whole run, which is most utility work. Per cubic yard when depth or width changes along the run, or when you are comparing against an excavation rate. The calculator reports both figures whichever method you choose.
- Why is my cost per foot higher than the rate I entered?
- Because the rate you entered covers the digging. The all-in figure adds bedding, backfill, compaction, spoil disposal, restoration, overhead and profit — everything you switched on in the advanced options.
Where people go next
All cost tools →Ordered by what usually comes next in the same job, not by keyword.