Grading
Percent grade, elevation difference, and stationing.
What these grading calculators are for
Site and alignment work uses three everyday numbers: the distance between stations, the elevation difference between two points, and the grade of that run. Stationing is the 100-foot system (10+50 = 1,050 ft from 0+00). Elevation difference is B minus A on one datum. Percent grade is rise over horizontal run for roads, drives, and swales — not the pipe-specific inches-per-foot framing.
Which tool to open
Station difference converts two STA values into feet of run. Elevation difference is cut/fill magnitude and sign (positive means B is higher). Percent grade is site/road slope from rise and run. If the run is a sewer or storm pipe and you need inches per foot, use the pipe slope calculator in Pipe & Utilities instead of percent grade.
Field mistakes these pages catch
Plus values belong in 0–99.99 ft; 10+120 is not a legal station. Reverse stationing (end behind begin) is a signed negative distance, not an automatic absolute. Grades need horizontal run, not slope distance, unless the plans say otherwise.