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CIVL 1101 Project 2: Concrete Cost Calculation

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In this course, you have been introduced GIS for the first time and learned how to create basic spreadsheets in Microsoft Excel. This
project will take the basic GIS skills you learned in Project 1 and expand upon them by integrating Microsoft Excel into your data
analysis process.
Project Data Description

Herff College

Quick Links

Compute the total cost of delivered materials required to make 2,000 yd3 of concrete with a mix ratio of 1:2:2 with a
water/cement ratio of 0.4 (assume that concrete weight 150 lbs/ft3). The first step would be to copy and convert your concrete
proportioning worksheet developed in Homework Assignment 6 to compute the mix components for a given volume. You may
use the worksheet shown below as a template.

Figure 1. Excel Template

Next, use the ArcGIS concrete material database (Concrete_materials) to estimate the distance from each material vendor to the
Engineering Science Building (the delivery point) and collect data for unit cost ($/ton/mile) and inventory volume (tons) for
each concrete material. With data for unit cost, volume, and delivery distance for each material, estimate the minimum
delivery cost for the required concrete materials. The total cost of each delivered material may be estimated as:

Total Cost ($) = Unit Cost ($/ton/mile) x Volume (tons) x Distance (miles)

(1)

For convenience, vendors require the estimated delivery distance to be rounded up to the next mile (for example, 5.24 miles is 6
miles).

Project Requirements

Utilizing data obtained in ArcGIS, generate a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet to estimate the minimum total cost of 2,000 yd3 of the
given concrete mix design. Note that if one vendor cannot supply all the material, several vendors may be used. For simplicity,
compute the minimum cost for each material and then add the results together to estimate the minimum total cost.
Project

1. Connect to the CPGIS server and add the Shelby County 2009 aerials to your map (click here for details on connecting to
the CPGIS server).
2. Download the zipped geodatabase file (Concrete_materials.zip). Unzip the file into your local Documents\ArcGIS
folder.
3. Add all the layers (Construction_site and Materials) from the site geodatabase over the Shelby County aerials (click here
for an example of adding data to a map).

http://www.ce.memphis.edu/tcegis/projects/1101/1101_2.html

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4. Rightclick on the Materials layer in the Table of Contents and click on Open Attribute Table. You should notice that the
eight data fields available. We are interested in Cost_($/ton), Volume, Material, and Name.

Figure 2. Attribute Table

5. Rightclick on the Material field and Sort Ascending to order the labels of the surveying grid points.

Figure 3. Sorted Attribute Table

6. Export this database to an Excel file by clicking on the Table Options (topright button on the Table window) and then on
Export. The following window will appear:

Figure 4. Export Window

7. Click on the folder button on the righthand side of the window and change the file type and name. It is important that the
Save as type: is text file. This makes it easy to import into Excel.

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Figure 5. Saving Data Window

8. Open Excel and open the Export_Output.txt file as input. Use a comma as your column delimiter and you should get a
spread sheet that looks like the following:

Figure 6. Exported Data in a Microsoft Excel Spreadsheet

9. Add a column for distance between each vendor and the Engineering Science building at the University of Memphis.
10. Using the Identify button
Memphis.
11. Click on the Measure button

and locate each vendor on the map and the Engineering Science building at the University of
at the top of the ArcMap interface. The following window will appear:

Figure 7. Measuring Window

12. Click on the + button and then use the pointer to measure the distance between the University of Memphis and each
material vendor.
13. Add the distance data to the Excel spreadsheet.
14. Using Equation 1, compute the cost for each vendor to deliver material.
15. Use your spreadsheet to estimate the minimum cost to supply the required materials for 2,000 yd3 of concrete.
16. Print out the coversheet and a copy of your spreadsheet. Also, submit your spreadsheet to the UMdrive.

Report and Grading

Formatting Requirements
Cover Page

Point Value
10 pts.

Technical Requirements

Point Value

Distance measurements within 20 ft tolerance

30 pts.

Formulas correctly used in Excel

30 pts.

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Correct vendors chosen

30 pts.

A printable PDF of this project is available at:

http://www.ce.memphis.edu/tcegis/projects/1101/PDFs/TCEGIS1101Project2.pdf

Contact Department Civil Engineering | 104 Engineering Science Bldg |Memphis, TN 38152 | Phone: 901/6782746 | Fax: 901/6783026 | Last updated: 06/28/2013
Text Only | Print | Contact UM | Memphis,TN38152 | 901/6782000 |Copyright 2012 University of Memphis | Important Notice

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