The wall of Fort Raleigh was divided into 30 different sectors in order to estimate the volume of the dirt removed and given a unique sector number. These sectors were classified based on their shape as either a trapezoidal prism sector, a corner sector, or a wedge sector. Total volume was calculated by the following equation:

Total Volume = Volume Trapezoid Sectors + Volume Corner Sectors + Volume Wedge Sectors.

It was assumed that the width of the wall was the same throughout. It was also assumed that the west wall had a gap in it, just as the trench was not completed on the west side of the fort.