TO:      Chief District Engineers
            Design Engineers
            Active Consultants

FROM: Gary W. Sharpe, P.E.
            Director, Division of Highway Design

DATE: October 23, 2002

SUBJECT: Apparent Shrinkage and Swell Factors

This Design Memorandum supersedes Design Memorandum 3-99, which addressed the addition of a note to the plans, advising that shrink and swell factors are intended for estimation purposes only. Upon the receipt of this memorandum, ALL projects should have this note removed. For instances where final plans have already been submitted, the Plan Processing Section will be responsible for removing this note. All other projects should have the note removed by the designer prior to submittal.

Effective also with this memorandum, shrink and swell factors for all projects should be removed from earthwork calculations, and each project should report the amounts for embankment and excavation ONLY, along with totals for ditch excavation, embarkment benching, etc. There should be NO calculation shown to determine whether additional embankment is required or whether there will be waste material. As before, for projects where final plans have already been submitted, the Plan Processing Section will make the appropriate changes. For all other projects, the designer should make changes to plans prior to submittal.

GWS:WDJ:LSB