Heavy Construction Estimating Software

Designed specifically for unit price and lump sum bidding. Ideal for both public and private work. Easy to use, powerful, and affordable.

  • Kajacs
  • Fort Lauderdale, FL, Hypower
  • AL EL-3 AGP-GreenHor
  • Courtland, NY, Suit-Kote
  • DE GES-Logo-1-01.png
  • MD and NC gaines-co-logo-675-1954
  • PA G.W
  • OH The Railroad Associates logo
  • NY wm-schultz
  • Detroit, MI, AdamoDetroitMILogo
  • VT Dale Percey, EL-4 percy_logo
  • MD WAChesterLogo
  • NJ Joseph M

“I liked that we could get up and running in a fraction of the time it took to set up other software solutions. It was easy to train others and the customer service is always very accommodating and helpful.”

Mark Brocato
Mark Brocato
VP/GM at PPI Engineering & Construction Services

“Great Software, Easy and Powerful. Easy to use and easy to teach. If you can work in Excel, you can work in Estimating Link. No nonsense program. Easy to build projects and to create professional proposals for bid."

Cody Sandstrom Profile Pic
Cody Sandstrom
Estimator - RevCon, Inc.

“By far the easiest, most adaptable software I have ever used and the staff are readily accessible. This software gives the Project Estimator all the tools and reports necessary to put together and accurate and concise estimate and any breakdown of resources you might require to further analyze your bid, pre and post bidding. I've been a user since 1988 and will continue to be.”

Kevin Flanders Profile pic
Kevin Flanders
Estimator/PM - BCR Land Services, Inc.

“Dealing with the TCLI team over the years has been a pleasure. There are few businesses left where, when you call support, you are just as likely to speak to the company president and software developers about issues or to kick around ideas.”

Rodney Woodham Profile pic
Rodney Woodham
Abramson, LLC / A.G. Peltz, LLC

Construction Link is simple to use and yet provides the same end results as larger, much more expensive programs. TCLI Support is always there when you need them.

David Black
Owner - Siteworx Inc.

Very user-friendly and very inexpensive and has great product support. We have used Estimating Link for over 30 years and have not found anything we dislike about the program.

Mike Austin
President - Austin & Bednash Construction, Inc.

Immediate Productivity

Complete your first bid the same day you get set up with Estimating Link. It’s easy to use, so there is no required training. Implementation is a breeze - import your rates or easily build them as you go.

Bid Smarter

Your business depends on fast and accurate bids and Estimating Link is the right tool for the job. Quickly build a job, know your job’s actual cost, and produce professional proposals and reports.

Central, Organized Database

Store and reuse estimates, items, rates, crews, assemblies, templates, catalogs, vendors, and customers. Re-use task data from job to job and scale it. Quantities adjust and labor and equipment cost will automatically scale.

Any size Job

Small and large jobs can be quickly pulled together without any special setup processes. You can manually enter bid prices without the need to perform any cost workups at all. You can literally bid job in a matter of minutes.

Estimating Link™

Software built for heavy construction bidding.

Efficiency & Accuracy

Bid more jobs in less time with greater accuracy.

Gain Accuracy
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Experience confidence with Estimating Link by eliminating the guesswork and inevitable errors that come with bidding on spreadsheets. The built in feature, Check Bid, checks for any possible errors and reports them to you so you can fix them.

Organized Estimates
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All your estimates and resources in one place and organized logically. Create folders to put similar estimates in and easily jump from project to project without ever having to hit save.

Cloud or On-Premise
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Estimating Link is available as an online service or as desktop application so you choose the deployment method you’re comfortable with

DOT Integration
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Estimating Link makes it quick and easy to transfer data into and out of DOT electronic bidding applications. Estimating Link directly imports the state’s proposal items. When you’re ready to submit the job, Estimating Link exports the project directly back into the DOT platform.

Drill Down Functionality
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Estimating Link was designed by a contractor so it works the way you think. Our unique drill down functionality makes it super easy to navigate through the program. It’s so easy to use that there is no required training.

How it works

Expertly designed by DOT utility contractor.

Bid Sheet - Dashboard of all Primary Items
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Your Bid Sheet is a summary of all the primary Items with the unit costs extended by the Bid Quantity. Here, you can add project overhead, bond costs, corporate overhead, and desired profit percentages. Tools for calculating optimal bid units and unbalancing gives you the flexibility of making last minute changes with immediate final results.

Item Sheet - Cost analysis of each Item or Phase
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The Item Sheets allow you to build a cost analysis of each phase or item of a project. A complex item can be composed of many sub items by use of the costs/combine function. Estimating Link provides an easy what-if analysis of costs with different production rates or day lengths.

Rate Table - Organized, reusable resources
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Rate libraries allow you to enter unlimited Labor, Equipment, Rental, Material, Subcontract and Other (Misc.) rates. You can also create crews which combine different rates into a single crew entry.

Subcontractor, Material, & Rate Comparisons
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Create and compare quotes for subcontractors, material, and rates. Split RFQ’s and choose the lowest prices and/or meet minority goals. Post a new vendor and update your entire bid instantly.

Customizable, Professional Proposals & Reports
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Print proposals directly from Estimating Link. Proposals can be printed in several formats - you have control over nearly every aspect of what is included. The robust library of pre-designed reports gives you the data you need to analyze every aspect.

Productivity

Increase efficiency from start to finish.

Multiple, Simultaneous Estimators
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Members of your team can collaborate to create both a division of labor and a higher level of efficiency in preparing winning proposals. You can work simultaneously with your team and have changes in real-time.

Shared License Pool
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You have control over who has access to your licenses and when. Our customer portal, User Management Link, makes it easy to toggle licenses between users. You can have 1 license and toggle between multiple users.

Quickly Build Estimate
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Copy an entire existing project or bring specific aspects of the project into a new estimate, such as rates, certain phases of the job/items, overhead, etc. and scale it all to your new estimate. The integration of DOT systems and spreadsheets make uploading and working with other platforms a breeze.

Fuel Calculator & Last Minute Changes
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The ability to make last-minute changes can be the most important part of submitting the winning bid. Update fuel prices, material price quotes, subcontractor quotes, or anything else in a job, then update your entire bid immediately.

Re-use Task Data
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Developing costs for individual tasks can be the most time consuming portion of bidding a job. With Estimating Link’s re-use task data, your labor and equipment automatically scale to your new job.

Tools

Everything you need to get the job done.

Markup Summary
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Estimating Link gives you the capability to apply markup differently to Labor, Equipment, Rental, Material, Subcontract, and Other. You can even markup a specific item independently or markup permanent material differently than temporary material. Apply Overhead, Bonds, Indirect Cost, and much more.

Sub-Item Assistant
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Quickly and easily add sub level items to primary items using the Sub-Item Assistant feature. It allows you to create, modify, and keep track of sub-level items in a project.

Build Reusable Crews
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Crews gives you the ability to assemble multiple rates into a single crew entity. This allows you to select pre-built crews for placement on Items, eliminating the need to individually select labor and equipment rates for common tasks.

Haul Calculator
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This tool allows users to input key parameters such as distance, vehicle speed, capacity, total material amount, and rate per unit, providing accurate calculations for time, number of trips, and total cost.

Pipe Trench Calculator
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Perform trench excavation calculations by specifying the dimensions of the trench, its bedding layers, and pipe dimensions to obtain accurate volume calculations.

Move Money
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Take advantage of overruns and underruns and move money around with an audit trail. Enter add-on and deduct values as well as markup percentages for items.

What our clients say about us

Support Beyond Software That We Provide

Award Winning Customer Support

Award Winning Customer Support

New user onboarding, customized training, and annual virtual classroom training included with your purchase to ensure your success.

Phone & Email Support

Phone & Email Support

All our support is handled in the United States, and our knowledgeable and friendly team is on stand-by, ready to help.

Award winning Customer Support:

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Knowledge Link

Knowledge Link

Enjoy our online library of videos, tutorials, how-to documents, and recorded live training at your fingertips.

Virtual Training Series

Virtual Training Series

Take advantage of our live virtual training to stay educated on our programs - included for all customers.

Estimating Link Customer Stories

Practical examples of Estimating Link in action, showcasing how customers of all size benefit from TCLI's heavy construction estimating software. 

From startup to 25 employees within nine months

For small to medium-sized, finding the right tools is critical to growth. Estimating Link provided an affordable yet powerful solution that allowed the company to streamline its estimating process, scale its operations, and improve overall project management.

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Improving Bidding Precision, Accuracy, and Profit

Since implementing Estimating Link, they avoid taking on projects with insufficient profit margins. For example, a potential bridge project offered only 7% profit, which, when estimated through Estimating Link, showed it would cost them $14,000 per day.

Watch Testimonial

"It’s so easy to use—I love this program."

By using the software, they saw a marked increase in the accuracy of their bids, which in turn allowed them to win more competitive contracts. Additionally, the software’s efficiency helped him maintain a better work-life balance.

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Discover your Missing Construction Link