Find out how much gravel to order for a driveway, path, patio base, or drainage bed. Enter the area as one or more rectangles, circles, or triangles, set the depth, and pick a material — crushed stone, pea gravel, road base, river rock, or sand. The calculator converts the volume to cubic yards, cubic metres, US tons, and half-cubic-foot bags, adds a compaction allowance for base layers and a waste allowance, and estimates the cost by the ton or the yard.
Laying a patio on that base? The paver calculator counts pavers, bedding sand, and polymeric sand. Pouring a slab instead? Use the concrete calculator. For a paved driveway, the asphalt calculator gives tons of hot mix. Holding back a slope? The retaining wall calculator sizes the base trench and drainage gravel along with the blocks. It all runs in your browser.
Frequently asked questions
How many tons of gravel are in a cubic yard?
Most gravel weighs about 1.4 to 1.6 US tons per cubic yard (2,800 to 3,200 lb), and landscape suppliers commonly list sand, gravel, and river cobble at 2,500 to 2,900 lb per yard. The exact number depends on the rock type, how angular it is, how much fine material fills the gaps, and whether it is wet. The calculator's presets use 2,800 lb for crushed stone, 2,700 for pea gravel, 2,900 for road base, and 2,600 for river rock. Every figure is editable, and your quarry can tell you the exact density of what they sell.
How deep should gravel be for a driveway or path?
Garden paths and decorative beds usually need 2 to 3 inches of gravel. A patio or shed pad needs about 4 inches. A new gravel driveway is typically built in layers — 4 to 6 inches of compacted road base or crusher run at the bottom, topped with 2 to 4 inches of clean crushed stone — for a total of 8 inches or more on soft ground. Topping up an existing driveway usually takes 2 inches. Use the multiple-section feature to size each layer separately if they use different materials.
What is the compaction allowance for?
When you compact road base or crusher run with a plate compactor, the stones pack tighter and the layer loses volume — typically 10 to 20 percent. If you need a finished, compacted base 4 inches thick, you have to order enough loose material to fill more than 4 inches. Enter that loss in the compaction field and the calculator divides the finished volume by (1 − loss): a 15 percent loss means ordering 17.6 percent extra, not 15, and a 20 percent loss means 25 percent extra. The separate waste field (5 percent by default) then covers spillage and an uneven subgrade. Clean, washed stone such as #57 crushed stone, pea gravel, and river rock barely compacts, so leave it at zero for decorative or drainage layers. The road base preset sets a 15 percent loss automatically.
Should I buy gravel by the ton or by the yard?
Quarries and landscape yards sell by either, and the calculator gives both so you can compare quotes. Weight-based pricing is common for crushed stone and road base because trucks are weighed on scales; volume pricing is common for decorative rock at landscape yards. Bags of gravel — usually half a cubic foot, around 50 lb — only make sense for small jobs: one cubic yard is 54 bags. For anything over about a cubic yard, bulk delivery is almost always cheaper, even after a delivery fee.