This gravel calculator turns a rectangular area into a volume, then into weight. Enter the length and width in feet, the depth in inches, the material, and a waste allowance. The sample is 10 feet by 20 feet, 3 inches deep, using dry gravel at 105 pounds per cubic foot and no waste. The headline is 2.625 short tons. The volume under that headline is 50 cubic feet, which is 1.852 cubic yards.
The 105 lb figure is the dry-gravel density on the Engineering ToolBox dirt and mud density table, which also lists that density as about 1,680 kg per cubic metre. Wet gravel on the same table is 125 lb per cubic foot. Dry sand is 97. A quarry ticket is a weighed load, and a damp or compacted product will not hit the table exactly. The mulch calculator on this site stops at volume, because mulch is bought by the bag or the yard. Gravel is often bought by the ton, so this page does the extra step. It does not price the load or choose a stone size.
How to use this calculator
- Enter the length and the width in feet. The sample is 10 by 20. Measure the area you will cover, not the whole yard.
- Enter the depth in inches. Three inches is the sample. Type 3, not 0.25 feet. The form divides by 12.
- Choose dry gravel, wet gravel, or dry sand. Then enter a waste allowance from 0 to 100 percent. The sample is 0.
- Press Calculate. Read the short tons, the cubic yards, the tonne equivalent, the order rounded up to the next tenth of a ton, and the count of 0.5 cubic foot bags.
How cubic feet of gravel become tons
Volume in cubic feet is length times width times depth, after the depth in inches is divided by 12. The sample is 10 × 20 × 3 / 12, which is 50 cubic feet. Divide by 27 to get cubic yards: 50 / 27 is 1.8518…, shown as 1.852. The same division can be written as length times width times depth in inches, divided by 324. The mulch page uses that 324 figure for a different material. The yards match. The shopping unit does not.
Weight is the cubic feet, after waste, times the density. Dry gravel is 50 × 105 = 5,250 lb. A short ton is 2,000 lb, so the headline is 5,250 / 2,000 = 2.625 short tons. One cubic yard of the same gravel is 27 × 105 = 2,835 lb, which is 1.4175 short tons and displays as 1.418. A rule of thumb that says “a yard of gravel is 1.4 tons” is that density rounded. It is a fair memory aid for 105 lb per cubic foot and a poor one for wet gravel. Wet gravel at 125 lb per cubic foot on the same 50 cubic feet is 6,250 lb, or 3.125 short tons. Dry sand at 97 lb per cubic foot is 4,850 lb, or 2.425 short tons.
The tonne line converts pounds with the exact factor 0.45359237 kilograms per pound. The sample is 2.381 tonnes. That is a metric tonne of 1,000 kg, not a short ton and not a UK long ton of 2,240 lb. The Engineering ToolBox rounds 105 lb per cubic foot to 1,680 kg per cubic metre. Using 1,680 instead of the pound-derived density moves the kilograms slightly. This page stays with 105 lb per cubic foot so the short-ton headline and the pound line are the same multiplication. The tonne line is the metric reading of those pounds.
Two purchase lines sit under the weight, and they are alternatives. The bulk line rounds the short tons up to the next 0.1 ton. The sample 2.625 becomes 2.7, because 2.625 is already above 2.6. A yard that sells by the tenth will not put 2.625 on the ticket. The bag line divides the cubic feet by 0.5 and rounds up. The sample is 100 bags. Buying 2.7 tons and 100 bags covers the area twice. The waste field is the allowance for a pile that does not leave the truck cleanly. Ten percent on the sample raises the volume to 55 cubic feet, 2.037 cubic yards, and 2.888 short tons, and the bag count to 110.
Formula
Cubic feet = length (ft) × width (ft) × depth (in) / 12 Cubic yards = cubic feet / 27 With waste: cubic feet × (1 + waste% / 100) Pounds = cubic feet with waste × density Dry gravel density = 105 lb per cubic foot Wet gravel density = 125 lb per cubic foot Dry sand density = 97 lb per cubic foot Short tons = pounds / 2,000 Tonnes = pounds × 0.45359237 / 1,000 One cubic yard of dry gravel = 2,835 lb = 1.418 short tons 0.5 cu ft bags = cubic feet with waste / 0.5, rounded up Coverage of one cubic yard = 27 × 12 / depth in inches, in square feet
At 3 inches, one cubic yard covers 108 square feet. The sample area is 200 square feet, and 200 / 108 is 1.8518 cubic yards, the same 1.852 the volume line shows. At 2 inches the coverage is 162 square feet. A 12 by 12 foot area at 2 inches is 24 cubic feet, 0.889 cubic yards, and 1.26 short tons of dry gravel, which is 48 of the half-cubic-foot bags. Using the 3-inch coverage on a 2-inch job overstates the tons.
A single cubic yard is a 9 by 3 foot area at 12 inches, or any other shape that multiplies to 27 cubic feet. Dry gravel there is 1.418 short tons, 2,835 lb, and 1.286 tonnes. The bulk line rounds 1.418 up to 1.5 short tons. That tenth-ton step is coarse on a one-yard load: you would be ordering about 0.082 tons more than the calculated weight. On a large pad the same tenth is a smaller share of the order. The headline stays at 1.418 so the rounding is visible.
Worked gravel weight examples
A 10 by 20 foot area, 3 inches deep, dry gravel
The volume is 50 cubic feet, or 1.852 cubic yards. At 105 lb per cubic foot the weight is 5,250 lb. The headline is 2.625 short tons. The tonne line is 2.381 tonnes. The bulk order rounded to the next tenth is 2.7 short tons. The bag count is 100. One cubic yard covers 108 square feet at this depth, so the 200 square foot area is just under two yards, which is what 1.852 says.
The same bed in mulch, on the mulch page, is 25 bags of 2 cubic foot mulch or a bulk order of 2 cubic yards. Those numbers are the volume. They are not 2.625 tons, and a ton of mulch is not a yard of gravel. If a supplier quotes the gravel job as “about two yards,” the matching dry weight on this density is 2.625 short tons before the tenth-ton round-up, not two tons.
The same bed in wet gravel, dry sand, and with 10% waste
Wet gravel at 125 lb per cubic foot weighs 6,250 lb, or 3.125 short tons, and 2.835 tonnes. The yards stay 1.852. The bags stay 100, because bags measure volume. Only the weight lines move. Dry sand at 97 lb per cubic foot weighs 4,850 lb, or 2.425 short tons. The tonne line shows 2.2 tonnes, because 4,850 × 0.45359237 kilograms is 2.1999 tonnes and the display keeps three decimal places of a figure that rounds to 2.200.
Ten percent waste on the dry gravel does not change the 50 cubic foot bed. It changes the order. The volume with waste is 55 cubic feet, 2.037 cubic yards, and the headline becomes 2.888 short tons. The bulk line is 2.9 short tons and the bags are 110. Add waste when the stone will be spilled or when the depth is uneven. Do not also add a second cushion on top of a supplier’s minimum delivery. That double-counts the spare.
A 12 by 12 foot path at 2 inches, and one exact cubic yard
A 12 by 12 foot path at 2 inches is 24 cubic feet, 0.889 cubic yards, and 1.26 short tons of dry gravel. The bag count is 48. Coverage at 2 inches is 162 square feet per cubic yard, and 144 square feet is under one yard, which is why the yard line is 0.889 rather than 1. Wet gravel on this path would be heavier by 125 / 105. The calculator does that when you change the material. It does not assume the path is compacted after it is laid. Compaction can leave the finished depth thinner than the depth you ordered.
Nine feet by three feet at 12 inches is exactly 27 cubic feet, one cubic yard. Dry gravel is 1.418 short tons. If a written estimate says 1.4 tons per yard, the gap against this table is 0.018 short tons per yard, about 35 lb. On the sample bed of 1.852 yards that gap is roughly 65 lb, small next to the jump from 2.625 up to a 2.7 ton order. Use 1.4 only as a check. Use 1.418, or the headline for your own area, when you are ordering.
Weight of a 10 by 20 foot area at 3 inches
| Case | Cubic yards | Short tons | 0.5 cu ft bags | Bulk tenth-ton |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dry gravel, no waste | 1.852 | 2.625 | 100 | 2.7 |
| Wet gravel, no waste | 1.852 | 3.125 | 100 | 3.2 |
| Dry sand, no waste | 1.852 | 2.425 | 100 | 2.5 |
| Dry gravel, 10% waste | 2.037 | 2.888 | 110 | 2.9 |
| 12×12 ft, 2 in, dry | 0.889 | 1.26 | 48 | 1.3 |
| One cubic yard, dry | 1 | 1.418 | 54 | 1.5 |
What a rectangular gravel weight leaves out
The area is a rectangle of one depth. A curved path, a slope, a driveway that is thicker at the edges, and a ring around a tree are different volumes. The waste field is the place to allow for that. Ten percent is a planning allowance, not a specification. Geotextile, edging, and a compacted base are not given a thickness of their own. If the base is a separate layer, run it as its own depth and its own material.
Density is the published loose figure, not a test of the stone in the truck. Crushed limestone, pea gravel, and recycled concrete do not all sit at 105 lb per cubic foot. Wet stone can land nearer 125. A supplier who sells by the ton from a scale is a better source for that yard’s product than a national table. If the quote is already in tons, you do not need this page to convert it again. If the quote is in cubic yards, multiply the yards by 1.418 for this dry-gravel density, or type the shape and let the form do it.
The bag size is a nominal 0.5 cubic foot, a common home-center size for decorative stone. Read the bag. A bag sold by weight, or a 0.4 cubic foot bag, will not match the bag count. The tonne is a metric tonne. A UK or Australian “tonne” order can use that line. A UK long ton of 2,240 lb is neither the short ton nor the tonne, and it is not printed. One cubic yard is about 0.765 cubic metres if a supplier sells by the metre. The headline itself stays in short tons.
Nothing here is a pavement design. Three inches of gravel is not a structural section for a driveway, and it may be too much or too little for a footpath. The concrete page counts 40, 60, and 80 lb bags of concrete. The mulch page counts 2 and 3 cubic foot bags of mulch. A ton of gravel does not answer either of those.
Frequently asked questions
How many tons of dry gravel cover 10 by 20 feet at 3 inches?
2.625 short tons at 105 lb per cubic foot, with no waste. The area is 50 cubic feet, or 1.852 cubic yards, and 5,250 lb. The bulk line rounds that up to 2.7 short tons. The same volume is 100 bags of 0.5 cubic feet. Buy one of those, not both.
Why is one cubic yard of this gravel 1.418 tons instead of 1.4?
Because 27 cubic feet times 105 lb is 2,835 lb, and 2,835 divided by 2,000 is 1.4175, which displays as 1.418. The familiar 1.4 tons per yard is that density rounded. Wet gravel at 125 lb per cubic foot is heavier. On the sample bed it is 3.125 short tons, not 2.625.
Should the gravel order include both the tons and the bags?
No. They are two ways to buy one volume. The sample is 2.625 short tons, or a 2.7 ton rounded order, or 100 bags. With 10% waste it is 2.888 short tons or 110 bags. Adding the bags on top of the tons double-counts the area.
What density does the wet gravel setting use?
125 lb per cubic foot, the wet-gravel figure on the Engineering ToolBox dirt and mud table. Dry gravel is 105 and dry sand is 97. The yards do not change when you change the material. On 50 cubic feet, wet gravel is 3.125 short tons and dry sand is 2.425 short tons.
Does a waste allowance change the cubic yards of the bed?
The bed’s own volume stays on the first volume line. Waste changes the order. At 10% the sample bed is still 1.852 cubic yards, and the order becomes 2.037 cubic yards and 2.888 short tons. The waste line is the one to compare with a delivery ticket.
Related ClearCalc pages
- Mulch calculator The same 10 by 20 foot area at 3 inches is 1.852 cubic yards and 25 bags of mulch, not 2.625 tons.
- Concrete slab calculator 80, 60, and 40 lb bags for a pour. A ton of gravel is not a bag of concrete.
- Length converter from meters If the area was measured in meters, convert to feet before you type the length and width. Depth stays in inches here.
- Room paint calculator Gallons from wall area. It does not estimate a stone order.