AI takeoff for civil and site work. Pipe, structures, and sitework, measured off the civil set.
AI takeoff for civil work reads your utility, grading, and erosion control plans and turns them into a takeoff where every foot of pipe and every structure is tied to the sheet it came from. Below, watch it measure a utility plan, see the checks that catch a missed structure, and get a free takeoff on your own set.
Then price it: sitework and earthwork estimatingClients include
Construction companies working with Ruh
Can AI take off site utilities and earthwork?
Yes. Ruh measures storm, sanitary, and water pipe by system, material, and size off the utility plans, counts manholes, catch basins, valves, and hydrants by type, and takes earthwork volume only from documented surfaces, at 27 cubic feet to the yard. It covers 5 site trades with 48 starting recipes you can edit.
- earthwork, excavation, utilities, erosion control, site demolition
- 5 site trades
- site recipes to start from, yours to edit
- 48
- on every structure, the second one blind
- 2 counts
What happens when Ruh reads a civil set?
Ruh reads the utility plan against its structure schedule and notes, measures storm, sanitary, and water pipe by system, material, and size, and counts each manhole, inlet, valve, and hydrant by type. Pipe stops at the building connection, so the takeoff carries your scope and not the plumber's.
- 1
Each structure is counted by type from the structure schedule as the scan passes, marked where it sits on the plan.
- 2
Storm, sanitary, and water pipe are measured by system, material, and size from plan length, stopping at the building connection.
- 3
Earthwork waits for documented surfaces: where existing grades are missing, the line is flagged instead of filled in.
Where civil bids lose margin
Civil bids are lost in the pipe and the dirt, not the plan view: a structure missed in the table, pipe measured at the wrong size, and a cut and fill number taken from a surface nobody surveyed.
The trench is where the cost is
Pipe footage is visible on the plan. The money is in the trench, bedding, backfill, and structures, which are easy to lump together on a fast manual takeoff.
Bid dates do not move
Public lettings and private bid dates arrive on their own schedule. Every set that sits unmeasured is a job that goes to the contractor who got a number out first.
The paper outlives the project
Public work is reviewed after award. A quantity with no sheet behind it is hard to defend when a change order or a pay application is questioned.
Our view: A civil takeoff should measure what the plans document and flag what they do not. Earthwork from a surface nobody surveyed is a guess, and a guess in a lump sum is paid for in the field.
What gets measured on a civil set
A civil takeoff, Divisions 31 and 33 of the spec, splits into earthwork, utilities, and erosion control, and each is measured differently. The table lines up each civil item with the sheet that shows it, how it is taken off, and the cost it drives.
| Item | Where it is on the set | How it is taken off | What it drives in the price |
|---|---|---|---|
| Storm, sanitary, and water pipe | Utility plans and profiles | Measured by system, material, and size | Pipe, trench, bedding, backfill, testing |
| Manholes, inlets, and catch basins | Utility plans and structure schedules | Counted by type | Structures, frames and grates, labor |
| Valves and hydrants | Utility plans and details | Counted by type | Valves, hydrant assemblies, labor |
| Mass cut and fill | Grading plans and earthwork tables | Volume from documented surfaces only | Excavation, haul, compaction, import or export |
| Fine grading and subgrade | Grading plans | Measured by area | Fine grading, proof rolling, stabilization |
| Silt fence and wattles | Erosion control plans | Measured by run | Barrier material, stakes, labor |
| Inlet protection and construction entrance | Erosion control plans | Counted by the each | Inlet protection, stone entrance |
| Seeding and blankets | Erosion control plans | Measured by area | Seed, straw, blankets |
Typical practice, not a standard. Sizes, depths, and materials come from your plans, profiles, and tables; where the set does not document a surface, the volume waits for your estimator rather than taking an assumed grade.
How do you know the pipe and structure counts are right?
No pipe or structure is priced until the utility plan has been counted twice, the second time blind. Lengths wait on a confirmed scale, and every line links to its sheet, so a mismatch shows up as an issue to settle rather than a number to trust.
- ✓
A blind second count
Manholes, inlets, valves, and hydrants are counted again without seeing the first pass. When two counts of a structure type disagree, both figures stay up until someone settles it from the plan.
- ✓
No scale, no quantity
Pipe footage and erosion control areas stay withheld on any sheet whose scale has not been checked against a printed dimension.
- ✓
No surface, no yards
Cut and fill come only from documented surfaces or an earthwork table. Where existing grades are missing, the line is flagged rather than given an assumed volume.
- ✓
Your estimator prices the work
Pipe, structure, and earthwork lines each show their price source, and the budget waits for your estimator's approval before any proposal.
From bid invite to a priced civil takeoff in three steps
- 1
Send the set
Utility plans and profiles, grading and erosion control plans, structure schedules, details, and the Division 31 and 33 specs, as PDF or CAD, straight from the bid invite or plan room.
- 2
Ruh measures and checks
Pipe is measured by system, material, and size, structures counted by type, erosion control measured by run and area, and earthwork held until a surface is documented. A blind recount of the structures runs before any price is set.
- 3
Your estimator signs it
Resolve the flagged lines, price on your own price files and rates, and export. Pipe and structure quantities export by sheet as a CSV, and the marked utility plan exports as a PDF colored by condition.
One civil set, taken off free.
We take off your own plans at no cost, and a set you have already bid makes the result easy to check. Counting it yourself first? The civil takeoff worksheet is a free CSV with the items, sizes, units, and columns for depth and your own labor units.
In a customer's own words
“Ruh helped us win a job during the demo, so we saw value before we even became a client.”
Ben MorlinJ&S Excavation- faster bid turnaround
- ~50%
- ADF Group, structural steel
- on every takeoff, the second one blind
- 2 counts
- Checks tab, before anything is priced
- tied to the sheet it came from
- Every line
- Takeoff and price sheet
Questions civil estimators ask
What civil and site work contractors ask before trusting an AI takeoff on a real bid.
What civil scopes does it measure?
Site utilities, earthwork, excavation, erosion control, and site demolition are built-in trades: pipe by system, material, and size, structures, valves, and hydrants by type, cut and fill from documented surfaces, barriers by run, and removals by material. Paving is not built in yet; a company can add it as its own assemblies and rates.
How is earthwork measured?
Does it price on our own production rates?
Can it read civil plans and profiles?
Is the takeoff defensible on public work?
How accurate is the civil takeoff?
How do we evaluate it?
Send a set. Judge the takeoff yourself.
One civil set, a free takeoff, and a 30-minute walkthrough of the pipe, the structures, and the earthwork lines. If the pipe footage does not hold up against yours, it cost you nothing.