Location: Field 7A, Davco Farming, Ayr, Queensland, Australia

Area: 120 ha or 302 ac

Other information: Fully irrigated row cropping, generally sugar cane, surveyed on 40m grid.

Initial Surface (Vertical Scale Exeragerated x100)

Design Surface - OptiSurface

Inputs

Surface Type Selection: OptiSurface 1D (Must drain in 1 Direction - eg down rows)

Minimum Allowable Downslope: 1:1600

Maximum Allowable Downslope: 1:800

Max. Allowable Downslope change: 1:2000

Minimum Allowable Cross-slope: 1:-250

Maximum Allowable Cross-slope: 1:250

Max. Allowable Cross-slope change: 1:2000

Cut/Fill Ratio: 1.2

Earthmoving Rate: $1.00 /m3

Outputs

Average Cut Depth: 0.07 m

Volume of Cut: 53,000 m3

Volume of Fill: 44,000 m3

Earthmoving Cut/ha: 444 m3/ha

Earthmoving Cost/ha: $444 /ha

Total Cost: $52,893

Design Surface - Single Plane

Inputs

Surface Type Selection: Single Plane

Use plane of best fit

Average Cut Depth: 0.18 m

Volume of Cut: 113,000 m3

Volume of Fill: 94,000 m3

Earthmoving Cut/ha: 952 m3/ha

Earthmoving Cost/ha: $952 /ha

Total Cost: $113,000

Conclusion

The OptiSurface design reduces average cut depth by 60% and total earthworks cost by 53% compare to a traditional single plane design.