excavation software
Excavation Software for the Crews in the Hole
Most software marketed to excavation contractors is office software — estimating, scheduling, invoicing. Gradelog is field software: it documents the excavation itself — trench depths and pipe grades, utility locate tickets, compaction of backfill, daily reports, crew timecards, and hauling tickets — in one job record that produces inspector-ready as-builts at closeout.
An excavation company lives and dies on what it can prove: that the utility locate was valid when the bucket went in, that the trench was benched to spec, that backfill compacted, that the extra rock was real, that the crew hours match the cost codes. None of that comes from estimating software.
Gradelog is the field record for all of it. One page per job, with every workflow on it — locates, dig logs, grade checks, compaction, photos, tickets, timecards, RFIs — captured by the crew as the work happens, and assembled into documentation when someone above you asks for proof.
Who this is for
- Excavation and sitework contractors
- Utility and pipeline subs working around live locates
- Demolition and mass-ex crews tracking haul-off
- Owner-operators who need documentation without office staff
Locates, trench, backfill — the record that protects your license
Utility locate tickets log against the job with dates and photos of the marks. Trench work documents alongside grade checks and compaction of every backfill lift. When the gas company claims a strike was your fault or the city questions the bedding, the contemporaneous record answers instead of your memory.
Rock, water, and everything else that becomes a change order
Differing site conditions pay only when documented at discovery. Photos with GPS and timestamps, daily report narratives, quantities, and material tickets build the change-order file in real time — organized by job, not lost in a camera roll.
Crew hours and hauling, tied to the same job
Timecards with cost codes and OT tracking; material tickets scanned with OCR and tallied by loads, CY, and tons. Job costing gets real field data the same day instead of a shoebox of tickets at the end of the month.
What's included
Utility locate ticket logging with photos
Trench and pipe grade documentation
Backfill compaction logs lift by lift
GPS-tagged photos and dig-site documentation
Material tickets with OCR — loads, CY, tons tallied
Timecards with cost codes and approval workflow
Daily reports with voice entry
Sewer/utility as-builts at closeout
See it with real project data
Open the live demo — a fully seeded project you can explore without creating an account.
Frequently asked questions
Is this estimating or bidding software for excavation?
No. Gradelog documents the work in the field — it complements estimating tools rather than replacing them. What it replaces is the field book, the whiteboard, the camera roll, and the nightly spreadsheet.
Can it track utility locates?
Yes. Locate tickets log against the job with dates, reference numbers, and photos of the marks — so the validity window and the state of the marks when digging started are on the record.
How does it handle hauling and disposal tickets?
Photograph the ticket; OCR extracts the details and quantities tally automatically per job and per day — import, export, and disposal all become searchable data instead of paper in the dash.
What does a small excavation company actually need to run it?
A phone. Gradelog is a progressive web app that runs on any smartphone or tablet, works offline in the hole, and starts on a free plan — no IT setup.
Does it document differing site conditions for change orders?
Yes — GPS-and-timestamp photos, daily report narratives, quantities, and tickets, organized per job at the moment of discovery, which is what a compensable differing-site-conditions claim requires.
Go deeper
From our sister store
Need the hardware too?
Express Tools carries the grade lasers, receivers, and total stations your crews run — Topcon, Trimble, Leica, and Spectra — with expert support from people who use them.
Log it. Prove it. Build with confidence.
Free plan available. Works offline. Cancel anytime — your data is never deleted.