Gravel Calculator

Gravel is measured by volume but usually sold by the ton, and the conversion depends on the stone. This gravel calculator takes a rectangle, a circle or a known area, multiplies by the depth to get cubic yards, then uses the material's weight per yard to get tons. It also gives a truckload count, the bagged equivalent for small jobs and an optional material cost.

Each material fills in a typical loose weight: about 1.4 tons per cubic yard for crushed stone and pea gravel and 1.5 for crusher run. It also fills in a compaction and waste allowance you can see and change. Base materials with fines pack down when they are rolled, so they need more loose stone than the finished depth suggests. Your supplier's weight per yard is the number to trust, so enter it when you have it.

Building a gravel driveway or a base for asphalt? Most driveways are built in layers: a thicker base of crusher run, then a few inches of clean stone or a paved surface on top. Run the calculator once per layer. If the gravel is the base for new pavement, the asphalt calculator handles the hot-mix tonnage, and recycled asphalt millings covers millings as a cheaper surface.

A loose cubic yard of gravel or crushed stone weighs about 1.3 to 1.5 US tons (2,600 to 3,000 lb). The table lists the typical figure the calculator uses for each material, how many cubic yards that makes a ton, and how far a ton spreads at 3 inches deep.

Volume is what you measure, but weight is what you usually pay for. Two stones can fill the same cubic yard and weigh different amounts, so the same 4-inch driveway can need a different number of tons depending on the stone. Asphalt millings are the lightest common option. The recycled asphalt millings guide covers how they compare with gravel on a driveway.

A gravel driveway that holds up is built in layers, not dumped in one pass. Take a single-lane driveway 12 feet wide and 100 feet long (1,200 ft²):

That is about 5 loads at 15 tons per truck. The base carries the weight and should be spread in lifts and compacted. The top layer gives traction and sheds water. Soft or wet soil may need a thicker base or a geotextile fabric under it. Grading and drainage usually matter more than the stone itself, which is why a sitework and excavation contractor is often the right call for a new driveway.

If the plan is to pave over the gravel later, the same base works under asphalt. The asphalt calculator gives the hot-mix tonnage for the surface, and the asphalt driveway cost calculator estimates what paving it would cost.

• Bags. Bagged stone usually comes in 0.5 ft³ bags, so a cubic yard is 54 bags. Bags make sense for a planter or a small path. Past about a cubic yard, bulk delivery is almost always cheaper.
• By the ton or the yard. Quarries usually sell by the ton and landscape yards often by the yard. To compare, divide the price per yard by the tons per yard to get a price per ton.
• Truckloads. Delivery is often a flat charge per load, with a minimum. A tandem dump truck commonly carries 10 to 15 tons, but legal weight limits and the truck decide. For bigger jobs, the trucking calculator works out how many trucks keep a crew busy.
• Spreading. Ask for the load to be tailgate-spread if the driver can do it. It saves hours of wheelbarrow work on a long driveway.

Area: length × width for a rectangle, π × radius² for a circle, or a total area you already know. Irregular areas can be split into rectangles and added together.

Volume: area × depth gives cubic feet; dividing by 27 gives cubic yards. Depth is the finished depth you want, entered in inches, feet or centimeters.

Weight: cubic yards × tons per cubic yard gives US tons. The material list fills in typical loose weights, and you can replace them with the supplier's figure.

Order quantity: the compaction and waste allowance is added on top and shown separately. The calculator adds nothing you can't see. Truckloads round up to whole loads at the capacity you enter.