How much gravel do I need?

Multiply length × width × depth (all in feet) to get cubic feet, divide by 27 to get cubic yards, then multiply by the gravel's density in tons per cubic yard. The calculator does this automatically, then adds your compaction and waste percentages to the volume so the order matches your finished depth.

How many tons of gravel are in a cubic yard?

About 1.4 tons for most standard gravels and crushed stone (≈2,800 lb per yard). River rock and washed gravel run heavier — up to 1.6 tons per yard. Pea gravel runs 1.25–1.35 tons per yard. The exact number depends on the material; the tool shows the density it uses for any calculation.

How much gravel do I need for a driveway?

Most residential driveways need 4–6 inches of gravel. For a 100 ft × 10 ft driveway at 4 inches, you're looking at about 12 cubic yards or roughly 17 tons of crushed stone before compaction and waste — closer to 22 tons after the typical 20% compaction + 10% waste adjustment.

How deep should gravel be?

2–3 inches for walkways and decorative beds; 4–6 inches for residential driveways; 6–9 inches for layered driveway builds; 8–12 inches for French drains. The "Suggested depth" helper in the tool fills the field with these picks.

Should I order extra gravel?

Yes. Plan for 10–20% extra to account for compaction (gravel settles under traffic) and waste (spillage during delivery, uneven base). The compaction and waste sliders in the tool handle this — the defaults are sensible starting points, and the use-case presets tune them further.

How much does a yard of gravel weigh?

About 2,800 lb (1.4 tons) for most standard gravels. Heavier materials like river rock or washed gravel can hit 3,200 lb per yard. Lighter ones like lava rock can be as low as 2,400 lb per yard.

How many cubic yards in a dump truck?

Single-axle dump trucks carry 5–8 cubic yards (7–10 tons). Tandem dumps carry 10–14 yards (13–18 tons). Tri-axle dumps carry 16–20 yards (20–25 tons). Pickups carry about 1 cubic yard. Confirm capacity with your supplier — load limits vary by jurisdiction.

How many bags of gravel are in a cubic yard?

At 0.5 cubic feet per bag (a common big-box size), 1 cubic yard equals 54 bags. At 1 cubic foot per bag, it's 27 bags. The calculator handles bag math when you select your bag size — and tells you when bulk would be cheaper than bagged.

What's the difference between gravel and crushed stone?

Gravel is naturally rounded by water; crushed stone is mechanically broken from larger rock and has angular edges that interlock when compacted. Crushed stone is typically the better choice for driveways and structural bases; rounded gravel is better for walkways, drainage, and decorative use.

What's pea gravel best for?

Walkways, decorative beds, playgrounds, and patio bedding. Its rounded shape is comfortable underfoot but doesn't compact well, so it's a poor choice for driveways — vehicles displace it.

What's the cheapest gravel option?

Locally quarried road base (also called crusher run, DGA, or quarry process) is usually the cheapest by the ton because it's a byproduct of crushing larger stone. Decorative materials — marble chips, lava rock, river rock — cost noticeably more per ton.

How much does a ton of gravel cover?

About 100 sq ft at 2 inches deep, 70 sq ft at 3 inches, or 50 sq ft at 4 inches. Exact coverage depends on the material; the tool's Coverage table shows it for whichever material you pick.

Are these calculations accurate?

They're estimates. Density varies by supplier, moisture content, and how loosely or compactly the gravel is loaded. Use the result as a planning baseline and confirm with your supplier before ordering — especially on large jobs where being a yard short or over costs real money.

Will my project data be saved or sent to a server?

No. Everything happens in your browser. Open DevTools → Network and watch for outbound requests as you type — there are none. Local saves live in localStorage; share permalinks live in the URL hash fragment, which browsers do not transmit to servers.

How do I share my estimate with a contractor or partner?

Click Share — the tool generates a permalink that encodes your project in the URL hash (everything after the # symbol). The recipient opens the link to see the same project. Or use Download PDF for a clean estimate sheet you can email or print.

Can I use metric units?

Yes. Toggle the Imperial / Metric switch at the top — auto-detects from your browser locale, sticks to your choice after that. Inputs accept "3 m 50 cm" or "350 cm" alongside plain decimals; results show in m³, tonnes, and your chosen currency per tonne or per m³.

Gravel Calculator

Estimate gravel by the cubic yard, ton, or truckload — for driveways, walkways, French drains, and landscaping. Real density ranges, compaction and waste built in. Imperial or metric. Free, no signup, your data stays in your browser.

Last updated: May 2026

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What it does

Volume, weight, truckloads, and cost — together

Every input updates volume in cubic yards or m³, weight in tons or tonnes, the rounded number of truckloads or bags, and total cost at your supplier’s price — all on one screen, all in real time.

Multi-region projects with subtract

Add up to 12 rectangles, circles, triangles, and rings (annulus). Toggle Subtract to model L-shaped patios, beds around tree trunks, or pool surrounds. A scaled diagram shows what you entered.

Real density ranges, not single estimates

Pea gravel, crushed stone (¾", #57), river rock, decomposed granite, lava rock, road base / DGA, washed gravel, marble chips, sand, riprap. Each ships with its published density range; a slider lets you dial in your supplier’s exact number.

Compaction and waste, on the surface

Loose gravel settles 10–25% under traffic. Spillage and uneven base add 5–15% more. Both are sliders with sensible defaults that auto-tune by use case (driveway, walkway, French drain, decorative bed).

Layered driveway mode

Real driveways are built in layers — base, middle, surface — each with its own material, depth, density, and compaction. Toggle layered mode and the result panel shows totals plus a per-layer breakdown.

Imperial or metric, mixed-unit input

Enter "12 ft 6 in" or "12'6"" or "3 m 50 cm" or "350 cm" — the parser is forgiving and shows a normalized echo so you can verify what it understood.

Save, share, export, print

Up to 10 projects save in your browser. Share a permalink that encodes your project in the URL hash (never sent to any server). Export as JSON, CSV, or plain text. Generate a clean PDF estimate sheet for contractors.

Multi-currency cost

USD, CAD, GBP, EUR, AUD, INR, NZD, ZAR. Price in $/ton, $/yd³, $/m³, $/tonne, or $/bag. Optional delivery fee and sales-tax — pre-tax and post-tax totals shown side by side.

How to use Gravel Calculator

1
Enter your area — pick a shape, type the dimensions
Rectangle is the default and covers most driveways, patios, and walkways. Circle for round beds and fire-pit surrounds. Triangle (base × height or three sides). Ring for beds around trees or pools. Add more regions if your project isn’t one shape; toggle Subtract on a region to model negative space.
2
Set the depth
2–3 inches for walkways and decorative beds; 4–6 inches for residential driveways; 6–9 inches for layered builds; 8–12 inches for French drains. The "Suggested depth" link fills the field for the most common picks.
3
Pick your gravel
The material picker shows each option’s typical use and published density range. Slide between Loose and Compacted within that range, or pick Custom and type your supplier’s exact density (lb/yd³ or kg/m³).
4
Adjust compaction and waste
The defaults (15% compaction, 10% waste) cover most jobs. Driveways often get 20% / 10%; French drains 10% / 5%. The result panel shows the math: base × (1 + compaction) × (1 + waste) = total volume to order.
5
Order — read truckloads, bags, and cost
Pick your truck size (pickup, single-axle dump, tandem, tri-axle, or custom) — the tool rounds up to whole loads. Or read the bag count for big-box-store ordering. Enter your supplier’s price for a total cost; add delivery and tax if you want a quote-ready number.

When to use this

New gravel driveway

30 ft × 12 ft × 4 in of crushed stone with 20% compaction and 10% waste = roughly 6 cubic yards or 8 tons. The calculator rounds that up to 1 single-axle truckload and shows the cost at your local price per ton.

Pea-gravel walkway through a back garden

A 20 ft × 3 ft path at 2 in deep needs about half a cubic yard. The bag count tells you whether bagged pea gravel from a big-box store is cheaper than bulk delivery — usually it isn’t past ~½ a yard.

60-foot French drain

A 60 ft × 12 in trench at 10 in depth filled with washed gravel works out to about 1.85 cubic yards. The calculator nudges you toward washed-gravel-specific density (not generic crushed stone) so the weight matches what your supplier quotes.

Decorative ring around a tree

Use the Annulus shape — outer 10 ft, inner 3 ft, depth 2 in of river rock. The math handles the doughnut shape exactly; competitors that only support rectangles overshoot by ~10%.

Contractor pricing a multi-section job

Add a rectangle for the main driveway, a circle for the turn-around, and a thin rectangle for the walkway extension — each with its own depth. Print or download the PDF estimate to send to the homeowner.

Common errors & fixes

My supplier’s "yards to tons" number is different from this tool’s.: Suppliers use their own density. Slide the density control to the value your supplier quotes (or pick Custom and type it directly) — your numbers will match. The tool always shows the density it’s using so you can verify.
The total volume looks higher than my friend got from another calculator.: This tool applies compaction and waste by default (15% / 10%). Other calculators often skip those — which is why people order short and end up making a second supplier trip. Set both sliders to 0% if you want the bare-volume math.
I’m getting a triangle inequality error.: In three-sides triangle mode, any two sides must sum to more than the third. If your sides are 5, 5, 15 — those can’t form a triangle. Re-measure or switch to base × height mode.
My share permalink is too long to paste into iMessage / WhatsApp.: Permalinks are capped at 8 KB to stay under chat-app URL limits. If your project exceeds that — usually 12 regions with long names — use Export → JSON instead and share the file.
I refreshed the page and lost my project.: Click Save first — that names the project and pins it to your browser’s storage. The auto-saved draft survives reloads but is overwritten when you start a new project. Use Export → JSON to keep an off-browser backup.

Technical details

Volume formula	volume = area × depth × (1 + compaction) × (1 + waste). Subtracted regions negate. Layered mode replaces single depth with a stack — each layer’s volume = total area × layer depth × layer factors.
Weight formula	weight = volume × density. Density ranges shipped per material (e.g. crushed stone ¾" = 1605–1725 kg/m³ ≈ 2700–2900 lb/yd³). Default to midpoint; slide between loose and compacted endpoints.
Truckload rounding	truckloads = ceil(total volume / truck capacity). Pickup ≈ 1 yd³, single-axle 7 yd³, tandem 13 yd³, tri-axle 18 yd³. Custom capacity supported.
Bag math	bags = ceil(total volume / bag size). Default bag sizes 0.5 / 1 / 2 cu ft.
Internal precision	All compute uses meters, m³, kg internally; display converts at the edge. Imperial → metric uses 1 ft = 0.3048 m and 1 cu yd = 0.7645549 m³ exactly. Display rounding: volume 2 decimals, weight 2 decimals, money 2 decimals, counts whole.
Capacity	10 saved projects per browser, 12 regions per project, 5 layers per layered build, 8 KB encoded share permalink, dimension max 10,000 ft / 3,000 m per field.
Privacy	All compute and storage runs in your browser. Permalinks live in the URL hash fragment — browsers do not transmit hash fragments to servers. Verifiable in DevTools → Network: zero outbound requests carry your project data.

Why "yards to tons" is never one number

The most common gravel question on the internet is some variation of "how many tons in a cubic yard of gravel." A reasonable rule of thumb is **about 1.4 tons per cubic yard** for most standard gravels and crushed stone. But the right answer always depends on the material — and that's why this calculator surfaces density as a first-class input rather than hiding it.

Pea gravel, with rounded grains, packs less densely — closer to 1.25–1.35 tons per yard. River rock and washed gravel run heavier, up to 1.55–1.6 tons per yard. Even within "crushed stone," ¾" and #57 differ by enough to matter on a 10-yard order.

The practical result: when you pick a material, the tool shows the published density range and uses the midpoint by default. You can slide it to match your supplier's exact number, or pick Custom and type it directly. The "density used" annotation is always visible — so when your final number matches (or doesn't match) your supplier's quote, you know exactly why.

Compaction and waste — why most calculators get this wrong

Two factors decide whether you order the right amount of gravel, and both are routinely missing from online calculators:

**Compaction.** Loose gravel from a delivery truck settles under traffic. A 4-inch layer of fresh crushed stone is closer to 3 inches once it's been driven on for a week. The conventional industry adjustment is 15–20% extra for driveways. If you skip it, your finished depth ends up shy of the spec — by enough to expose the base material on a heavily-used drive.

**Waste.** Spillage during delivery, gravel pushed into the surrounding lawn or curb, an uneven sub-base that hides extra volume — these add up to 5–15% on a typical residential job. Bigger jobs and rougher bases tend toward the higher end.

The defaults here (15% compaction, 10% waste) are deliberately on the conservative side because the cost of running short — a return-trip delivery fee — is usually more than the cost of the marginal extra gravel. The use-case presets nudge the defaults further: driveway 20% / 10%, walkway 10% / 10%, French drain 10% / 5%, decorative bed 5% / 10%.

How to pick the right material

Match the material to the job, not the other way around:

• **Driveways** — Crushed stone (¾" or #57) for the surface, road base / DGA / quarry process for the compacted base layer. Avoid pea gravel: its rounded grains don't lock together under traffic and end up tracked into the lawn.

• **Walkways and patios** — Pea gravel or decomposed granite. Pea gravel is comfortable underfoot but doesn't compact; decomposed granite gives a firmer surface that compacts to almost-pavement.

• **French drains and foundation drainage** — Washed gravel (also called drain rock). The "washed" part matters — fines would clog the drain over time.

• **Decorative beds** — River rock and lava rock are the visual standouts; marble chips give a brighter, manicured look. All three are heavier per yard than the working materials, so factor that into your price-by-the-ton math.

• **Erosion control on slopes** — Riprap (4–12" stone). The big-stone end of the gravel family.

The material picker shows a one-line use-case blurb on each option to nudge you toward the right pick.

Layered driveway builds — why they last longer

A long-lived gravel driveway isn't a single dump of crushed stone. It's three layers, each doing a different job:

1. **Base layer (4–6 in)** — Larger crushed stone (1½–3") laid on the prepared sub-grade. This layer carries the weight and drains away water before it can soften the soil underneath.

2. **Middle layer (3–4 in)** — Smaller stone (¾–1") that fills the voids in the base and creates a continuous structural mat.

3. **Surface layer (2–3 in)** — Fine crushed stone or stone dust that locks the surface together and gives a smooth driving experience.

Each layer compacts on top of the next. Skip the base and the surface stone migrates into the soil over a season or two; skip the middle and the surface won't lock; skip the surface and the driveway is rough.

The layered-build mode in this calculator lets you size each layer with its own material, depth, density, and compaction. The per-layer breakdown shows the order list one delivery truck would carry — useful when staging materials for a multi-day install.

When to bag and when to bulk

Bagged gravel makes sense for very small jobs — a couple of square feet of paver bedding, a small bonsai bed, or filling a few drainage cells. Past ¼ to ½ a cubic yard, bulk delivery wins on price almost everywhere.

A quick test: at typical 2026 prices, bulk crushed stone runs roughly $40–$60 per ton delivered (varies a lot by region and order size). Bagged crushed stone retails around $5–$8 for a 0.5 cu ft bag, which works out to about $300–$500 per cubic yard equivalent — three to five times the bulk price.

The trade-off is that bulk delivery has a minimum order (often 3–5 tons) and a delivery fee that's flat below the minimum. Below ¼ yard, bagged is the only sensible option even if the per-yard rate is higher.

The tool surfaces both sides: the bag count is always shown alongside truckloads, and a small note appears when bagging would be noticeably more expensive at your entered price.

Frequently Asked Questions

How much gravel do I need?: Multiply length × width × depth (all in feet) to get cubic feet, divide by 27 to get cubic yards, then multiply by the gravel's density in tons per cubic yard. The calculator does this automatically, then adds your compaction and waste percentages to the volume so the order matches your finished depth.
How many tons of gravel are in a cubic yard?: About 1.4 tons for most standard gravels and crushed stone (≈2,800 lb per yard). River rock and washed gravel run heavier — up to 1.6 tons per yard. Pea gravel runs 1.25–1.35 tons per yard. The exact number depends on the material; the tool shows the density it uses for any calculation.
How much gravel do I need for a driveway?: Most residential driveways need 4–6 inches of gravel. For a 100 ft × 10 ft driveway at 4 inches, you're looking at about 12 cubic yards or roughly 17 tons of crushed stone before compaction and waste — closer to 22 tons after the typical 20% compaction + 10% waste adjustment.
How deep should gravel be?: 2–3 inches for walkways and decorative beds; 4–6 inches for residential driveways; 6–9 inches for layered driveway builds; 8–12 inches for French drains. The "Suggested depth" helper in the tool fills the field with these picks.
Should I order extra gravel?: Yes. Plan for 10–20% extra to account for compaction (gravel settles under traffic) and waste (spillage during delivery, uneven base). The compaction and waste sliders in the tool handle this — the defaults are sensible starting points, and the use-case presets tune them further.
How much does a yard of gravel weigh?: About 2,800 lb (1.4 tons) for most standard gravels. Heavier materials like river rock or washed gravel can hit 3,200 lb per yard. Lighter ones like lava rock can be as low as 2,400 lb per yard.
How many cubic yards in a dump truck?: Single-axle dump trucks carry 5–8 cubic yards (7–10 tons). Tandem dumps carry 10–14 yards (13–18 tons). Tri-axle dumps carry 16–20 yards (20–25 tons). Pickups carry about 1 cubic yard. Confirm capacity with your supplier — load limits vary by jurisdiction.
How many bags of gravel are in a cubic yard?: At 0.5 cubic feet per bag (a common big-box size), 1 cubic yard equals 54 bags. At 1 cubic foot per bag, it's 27 bags. The calculator handles bag math when you select your bag size — and tells you when bulk would be cheaper than bagged.
What's the difference between gravel and crushed stone?: Gravel is naturally rounded by water; crushed stone is mechanically broken from larger rock and has angular edges that interlock when compacted. Crushed stone is typically the better choice for driveways and structural bases; rounded gravel is better for walkways, drainage, and decorative use.
What's pea gravel best for?: Walkways, decorative beds, playgrounds, and patio bedding. Its rounded shape is comfortable underfoot but doesn't compact well, so it's a poor choice for driveways — vehicles displace it.
What's the cheapest gravel option?: Locally quarried road base (also called crusher run, DGA, or quarry process) is usually the cheapest by the ton because it's a byproduct of crushing larger stone. Decorative materials — marble chips, lava rock, river rock — cost noticeably more per ton.
How much does a ton of gravel cover?: About 100 sq ft at 2 inches deep, 70 sq ft at 3 inches, or 50 sq ft at 4 inches. Exact coverage depends on the material; the tool's Coverage table shows it for whichever material you pick.
Are these calculations accurate?: They're estimates. Density varies by supplier, moisture content, and how loosely or compactly the gravel is loaded. Use the result as a planning baseline and confirm with your supplier before ordering — especially on large jobs where being a yard short or over costs real money.
Will my project data be saved or sent to a server?: No. Everything happens in your browser. Open DevTools → Network and watch for outbound requests as you type — there are none. Local saves live in localStorage; share permalinks live in the URL hash fragment, which browsers do not transmit to servers.
How do I share my estimate with a contractor or partner?: Click Share — the tool generates a permalink that encodes your project in the URL hash (everything after the # symbol). The recipient opens the link to see the same project. Or use Download PDF for a clean estimate sheet you can email or print.
Can I use metric units?: Yes. Toggle the Imperial / Metric switch at the top — auto-detects from your browser locale, sticks to your choice after that. Inputs accept "3 m 50 cm" or "350 cm" alongside plain decimals; results show in m³, tonnes, and your chosen currency per tonne or per m³.

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