Price checkDrilled Shafts & CaissonsPer LF
Drilled shaft / caisson excavation in soil, by diameter
What bidders priced on like-for-like public pay items, from public agency bid tabulations restated to 2026 dollars and a typical job, against ESC’s published rate as a general contractor carries it.
- 5 published rates
- Price book rev 1 · valid through Dec 13, 2026
- How the comparison works
Diameter: ESC’s rate against the median public bid
36 in. diameter
−21%
ESC’s rate as a GC carries it, against the median public bid
36 in. diameter: ESC’s rate as a GC carries it is $682/LF — −21% vs the median public bid, and below 62% of 101 public bids on 17 lettings (2019–2026).
- Strong evidence: 17 lettings
- Bids 2019 onward
- New England agencies
- Restated to 2026 dollars
- Middle half of bids
- Median bid
- Typical low bid
- ESC rate, as a GC carries it (gold rule: our low–high range)
- ESC published rate
- $620/LF
- Range $495–1,000
- As a GC carries it
- $682/LF
- Published rate +10% · $545–1,100
- Median public bid
- $858/LF
- Recent lettings count more; each letting once
- Middle half of bids
- $506–1,512/LF
- 25th to 75th percentile
- Typical low bid
- $389/LF
- Median of each pay line’s lowest bid
- Pay lines where ESC is under even the lowest bid
- 7 of 21
- ESC’s carried rate below every bid on the line
Price book note: 36 in, spoils stockpiled on site, bottom cleanout. Casing, cage, concrete by item. 10 LF minimum per shaft.
This rate in the price book01 · The field
Every public bid
Each dot is one bidder’s price on one public pay line for this work: 101 bids on 17 lettings, 2019–2026. Every price is restated to 2026 dollars, 36 in. diameter and a typical job size, so it compares like for like with ESC’s published rate. Point at or focus a dot for its year, agency and rank; the other bids on its pay line are ringed.
- Public bid
- Older lettings fainter
- Middle half of bids
- Median bid
- Typical low bid
- ESC as a GC carries it (gold rule: low–high)
n = 101 bids · 17 lettings · 21 pay linesSource: public agency bid tabulations
Show all 101 bidsHide the numbers
02 · Size and time
Price by diameter, and over time
Every bid at the diameter printed on its pay line, then the selected size’s bids by the year they were opened.
Price by diameter
- Bid at its printed diameter
- Median bid at each size
- Middle half
- ESC as a GC carries it
n = 101 bids at 6 printed diametersSource: public agency bid tabulations
Show the numbersHide the numbers
Over time
- Public bid
- Year’s weighted median
- ESC as a GC carries it
n = 101 bids · 7 years with bidsSource: public agency bid tabulations
Show the numbersHide the numbers
03 · Pay lines
Pay line by pay line
Every public pay line behind this rate. No bidder, project, contract or town is shown: a line is a year, an agency, a printed quantity, a count of bidders and prices.
ESC’s carried rate would have been the lowest price on 7 of 21 pay lines.
| Year | Agency | Quantity | Bidders | Low | Median | High | Bids on the line against ESC | ESC would have ranked |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026 | CTDOT | 240 LF | 2 | $346 | $433 | $519 | #3of 3 | |
| 2026 | MassDOT | 2,940 LF | 8 | $620 | $968 | $1,695 | #2of 9 | |
| 2025 | MassDOT | 1,450 LF | 2 | $952 | $985 | $1,017 | #1of 3: the lowest price on the line | |
| 2025 | MassDOT | 1,440 LF | 6 | $20.01 | $470 | $1,084 | #6of 7 | |
| 2025 | MassDOT | 600 LF | 2 | $809 | $837 | $865 | #1of 3: the lowest price on the line | |
| 2024 | MassDOT | 2,068 LF | 7 | $0.02 | $1,458 | $2,278 | #2of 8 | |
| 2024 | MassDOT | 114 LF | 5 | $540 | $1,329 | $2,144 | #3of 6 | |
| 2023 | MassDOT | 2,580 LF | 5 | $464 | $732 | $854 | #3of 6 | |
| 2023 | MassDOT | 830 LF | 3 | $285 | $651 | $2,767 | #3of 4 | |
| 2023 | MassDOT | 498 LF | 7 | $1.46 | $5,258 | $7,302 | #2of 8 | |
| 2023 | MassDOT | 260 LF | 4 | $27.50 | $1,192 | $1,999 | #2of 5 | |
| 2023 | MassDOT | 50 LF | 5 | $1,730 | $2,077 | $2,838 | #1of 6: the lowest price on the line |
Newest first · 12 of 21 pay lines
Low, median and high are restated to 2026 dollars, 36 in. diameter and a typical job; the quantity is as printed. The strip shows each bid on the line (dots), its median (ink tick) and ESC’s rate as a GC carries it (diamond), on one scale for every line. “ESC would have ranked” counts ESC as one more bidder on the line.
04 · Agencies
By agency
The same comparison inside each agency’s own lettings.
| Agency | Lettings | Bids | Median bid /LF | Field and ESC | ESC vs median | Bids above ESC |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| All agencies | 17 | 101 | $858 | −21% | 62% | |
| Massachusetts Department of TransportationMassDOT | 16 | 99 | $924 | −26% | 70% | |
| Connecticut Department of TransportationCTDOT | 1 | 2 | Too few lettings to compare | |||
- Middle half of bids
- Median bid
- ESC rate, as a GC carries it (gold rule: our low–high range)
An agency is compared on its own from 3 lettings. Every agency’s bids count in the charts and pay lines above.
Where these numbers come from
Basis
36 in. diameter. 101 public bids on 17 lettings and 21 pay lines, from MassDOT and CTDOT (2019–2026). Every bid is restated to 2026 dollars and to a typical ESC job of 140 LF at 36 in. diameter. A letting’s weight halves every 3 years, and each letting counts once, however many bidders it drew.
ESC’s rate is compared as a general contractor carries it: the published typical rate plus 10%, because a public pay line is the general contractor’s price, markup included.
Published by Earth Support Corp. from public agency bid tabulations. These are budget comparisons, not a quote or an offer: ESC quotes its earth-support scope to general contractors as a subcontractor, from your drawings.
Send drawings. Get a firm, line-item quote within 3 business days.
Rev 1 · valid through Dec 13, 2026
Or email plans and your bid date to bids@earthsupportcorp.com.