An independent number for every pay item
On a DOT letting the bid tab is the engineer's estimate, and engineer's quantities miss things. On a large highway job one missed or overstated item can be the margin. CivilQuick Takeoff measures each pay item straight from the drawings, never from the bid tab, so your estimator has an independent quantity to compare and a clear list of where the two disagree.
Made for DOT plan sets
CivilQuick is being developed and tested on Virginia DOT (VDOT) road plan sets, and it works the way DOT plans are drawn:
- Standard designations. Curb and gutter, curb ramps, medians, riprap and drainage structures are taken off by their standard callout, for example CG-6 curb and gutter, CG-12 curb ramps, MS-2 medians, EC-1 riprap and DI-3B inlets.
- Units the way items are paid. Curb ramps come out as both area and count per type, underdrain as linear feet only, and broken pavement lines by gross length, not painted length.
- Asphalt tons by layer. The pavement structure from the typical sections is applied to the paved areas to give tonnage for each layer, with paving rates and aggregate weights you can change.
- Sheet types kept apart. Roadway items come from the roadway plan sheets, erosion and sediment control items from the E&S sheets, and maintenance of traffic items from the traffic control sheets, so nothing is double counted from a breakout sheet.
- Match lines respected. Every quantity stops with a straight cut at the match line, and items drawn again on profile and striping sheets are counted once.
From plan set to bid quantities
Upload the whole vector PDF, cover sheet to cross sections. CivilQuick picks out the plan sheets, reads each sheet's legend and scale, and measures the pay items it finds. You get a takeoff by pay item and by sheet, a review list of anything it wasn't sure about, and an Excel workbook to drop into your estimate.
Works with other state DOTs and municipalities
CivilQuick reads the linework and legends in the PDF rather than relying on one agency's CAD layers, so the same approach applies to other state DOT, county and city road plans issued as vector PDFs. We're testing on VDOT sets first; if you bid work for another agency, tell us when you join the launch list.
DOT takeoff questions
Does CivilQuick copy quantities from the bid tab or summary sheets?
No. Quantities are measured from the plan drawings. The point is to give you a number you can check the engineer's estimate against.
Which state DOTs are supported?
Development and testing are on Virginia DOT plan sets. The method works from the vector linework and each sheet's legend, so other DOT and municipal road plans issued as vector PDFs are on the roadmap.
Does it handle the cross section sheets?
It reads the typical sections to build asphalt tonnage per layer, and is learning to read variable overlay build-ups from the cross sections. It also computes earthwork cut and fill from the cross sections by average end area, with the engineer's printed end areas alongside for checking.
When can my team use it?
CivilQuick Takeoff is in development. Join the launch list on the home page and you'll hear first when accounts open.
Be first in line when CivilQuick goes live.
CivilQuick Takeoff is still in development. Leave your email on the home page and we'll let you know the day it opens.
Join the launch list