Calculators

Construction

Calculate estimated gravel volume for your construction or landscaping project. Whether you're working on a road base, drainage and fill, driveway, walkway or patio, this calculator accurately estimates how much gravel you need.

In the calculator choose commonly available gravel material like pea gravel, river rock, crushed stone, dense graded aggregate DGA, quarry process QP, bank run, decomposed granite, lava rock, marble chips or riprap.

You can also calculate amount of gravel using gravel size categories like fine, medium, coarse or extra coarse. Enter a custom gravel density if that information is important to your calculation and is available.

Estimate Gravel Cost

You can estimate total cost of gravel for your project by entering price per ton or per cubic yard. This can help you budget both road base and total expenses for your proposed design.

Calculating Area of Irregular Shapes

For irregular areas, divide the space into basic shapes, figure each area and add the totals. For example if you have an "L" shape, divide that into two individual rectangles and calculate the total area of those two sections. If you already know the total area of your space you can enter that number as well.

How Much Gravel Do I Need?

How much gravel you need depends on the dimensions of your project. Find the length and width of the area you need to fill with gravel, then specify the depth required.

In general it's wise to plan for material compaction, spillage, or other loss. Depending on the scale of your design it's a good idea to add 5-15% extra material to your calculated volume to account for compaction and waste.

To determine how many tons you need, multiply cubic yards by gravel density in pounds per cubic yard. Gravel weights are provided in the answer in pounds, kilograms, US tons, long tons, and metric tons.

Calculate Gravel Volume

1. Measure area: length × width = square feet
2. If depth is in inches, convert inches to feet: depth in ft = inches ÷ 12
3. Find volume in ft³: cubic feet = area in ft² × depth in ft
4. Convert to cubic yards yd³: cubic yards = cubic feet ÷ 27
5. Calculate weight: pounds = cubic yards × material density in pounds per cubic yard

Example: Calculate Amount of Pea Gravel for a Patio

You have a patio space that is 20 feet long and 10 feet wide. You need a gravel base depth of 3 inches.

1. Area: 20 ft × 10 ft = 200 ft²
2. Depth in feet: 3" ÷ 12 = 0.25 ft
3. Find the volume: 200 ft² × 0.25 ft = 50 ft³
4. Convert to yd³: 50 ft³÷ 27 = 1.85 yd³
5. Want to know the weight? If the pea gravel density is 2,565 pounds per cubic yard, multiply volume by density: 1.85 yd³ × 2,565 lb/yd³ = 4745.25 pounds

Types of Gravel in this Calculator

There are many types of gravel, and each has its own appearance, weight and density, and practical use.

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The tables below list generally available gravel varieties with their associated stone sizes, densities, and typical uses. Densities included are generally accepted for the specific material, rounded to whole numbers for calculating weight estimates. These measures don't account for potential water or moisture in the material which could impact actual weight.

This calculator uses density to calculate weight of material. If you are not sure which density to select for your calculation, ask your supplier for the density of your specific product. You can also type a custom density into the calculator.

If a size range starts with 0 mm or 0 inches the material includes dust, quarry fines or sand. Materials with 0-xx sizes have fines for better compaction. Material without fines (like Pea Gravel 4-10 mm) drain water better but don't compact as firmly.

Frequently Asked Questions