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Also, would you not think that the word "forecast" might be misleading or a flawed descriptor, as it implies the process of predicting a future quantity, value, event or trend? 

If someone is to estimate how heavy an installed structure is, or an existing  concrete foundation, we are no longer talking about the future. The items were already built. It is in front of us to be measured but since we cannot lift them up and put them on a weighing scale, we have to estimate by measuring the other parameters. Right? This is estimating the present, not the future. ;))

I think the definition below bags all attributes.

"An estimate is an approximation, prediction, or projection of a quantity based on experience and/or information available at the time, with the recognition that other pertinent facts are unclear or unknown. An estimate is almost the same as an educated guess, and the cheapest (and least accurate) type of modeling (Business Dictionary, 2017)."

Very close but I'll use another word for Prediction - may be a calculation from a set of known factors, benchmarks, & industry standards unit rates to develop the cost of a venture or a project for the project owners and stakeholders.