Asphalt Calculator
With length 40 ft, width 12 ft, compacted thickness 3 inch, waste allowance 5 %, asphalt comes to 9.14 tons — tons to order. It is reached in 4 steps, the last of which is 8.7 * (1 + 5 / 100), and each one is printed on the page with its numbers filled in. The formula is the one published by Asphalt Institute, not an approximation fitted to it.
Tons of hot-mix asphalt for a driveway or lot at a given compacted thickness, with the density the mix is actually sold at.
Formula and sources checked · How we check
Length 40 ft, Width 12 ft, Compacted thickness 3 inch, Mix Hot-mix asphalt — 145 lb/cu ft
9.14 tons
Tons to order for the example below. Editing a field recomputes the calculator below; this figure holds the answer the page was loaded with.
It is written into the HTML rather than drawn by a script, so a search engine reading this page without running JavaScript still finds an answer.
- Area
40 * 12480 sq ft- Compacted volume
480 * (3 / 12)120 cu ft- Weight before waste
17400 / 20008.7 tons- Tons to order
8.7 * (1 + 5 / 100)9.135 tons
Several at once
A job is rarely one of anything. Work out the first, add it, change the figures and add the next — the list keeps what each line was, and totals them.
Ask about this in the chatAsphalt Tonnage by Thickness Chart
Worked example
A 40 × 12 ft driveway at 3 in compacted is 120 cubic feet, which at 145 lb per cubic foot is 8.7 tons before waste and 9.14 tons ordered. Plants sell by the ton and charge a minimum load, so a driveway this size is usually one delivery.
How to work it out yourself
- 1.Measure the paved area in feet and the finished thickness in inches.
- 2.Multiply length by width by thickness in feet to get the compacted volume.
- 3.Multiply that volume by the density of the mix — 145 lb per cubic foot for ordinary hot mix — and divide by 2,000 for tons.
- 4.Add a few per cent for edges and what sticks in the truck.
How far one cubic yard goes
A cubic yard is 27 cubic feet. Spread one inch deep it covers 324 square feet, and every other depth is that figure divided by the depth in inches — which is the whole table in one sentence.
| Depth | Square feet | Square yards |
|---|---|---|
| 1 in | 324 | 36.0 |
| 2 in | 162 | 18.0 |
| 3 in | 108 | 12.0 |
| 4 in | 81 | 9.0 |
| 6 in | 54 | 6.0 |
| 8 in | 41 | 4.5 |
| 10 in | 32 | 3.6 |
| 12 in | 27 | 3.0 |
Cubic yards for a given area
| Area | 1 in | 2 in | 3 in | 4 in | 6 in | 8 in | 10 in | 12 in |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 100 sq ft | 0.31 | 0.62 | 0.93 | 1.23 | 1.85 | 2.47 | 3.09 | 3.70 |
| 200 sq ft | 0.62 | 1.23 | 1.85 | 2.47 | 3.70 | 4.94 | 6.17 | 7.41 |
| 500 sq ft | 1.54 | 3.09 | 4.63 | 6.17 | 9.26 | 12.35 | 15.43 | 18.52 |
| 1,000 sq ft | 3.09 | 6.17 | 9.26 | 12.35 | 18.52 | 24.69 | 30.86 | 37.04 |
Suppliers deliver in whole or half yards, so round up — a truck will not bring 2.37.
Bags to the cubic yard
| Bag | Holds | Bags per yard |
|---|---|---|
| Mulch, 2 cu ft bag | 2 cu ft | 14 |
| Mulch, 3 cu ft bag | 3 cu ft | 9 |
| Topsoil or compost, 1 cu ft bag | 1 cu ft | 27 |
| Concrete mix, 80 lb bag | 0.6 cu ft | 45 |
| Concrete mix, 60 lb bag | 0.45 cu ft | 60 |
| Concrete mix, 40 lb bag | 0.3 cu ft | 90 |
Concrete is sold by weight and the yield is printed on the bag, which is why it takes 45 of the 80 lb bags to make a yard rather than the dozen people expect. Past about ten bags, ready-mix is cheaper and far less work.
Depth by use
| Use | Depth | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Mulch, established beds | 2–3 in | Deeper than 3 in holds water against stems and starves roots of air. |
| Mulch, new beds over bare soil | 3–4 in | The extra inch is what suppresses weeds for a season. |
| Topsoil over an existing lawn | 0.25–0.5 in | Any more and the grass underneath is smothered rather than fed. |
| Topsoil for a new lawn | 4–6 in | Roots need the depth once, at the start; it cannot be added later. |
| Gravel walkway | 2–4 in | Over a compacted base, not over soil. |
| Gravel driveway, surface course | 3–4 in | Over 6 to 8 in of compacted base. |
| Gravel driveway, full build | 8–12 in | Base and surface together, laid and compacted in layers. |
| Concrete patio or walkway | 4 in | Four inches is the ordinary residential slab. Follow the specification for anything carrying a vehicle. |
How much extra to order
| Reason | Add | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Compaction, crushed stone | 20% | Six inches loose settles to about five. Order for the finished depth. |
| Settling, mulch and soil | 10–15% | Organic material shrinks as it breaks down over the first season. |
| Spillage and uneven ground | 5–10% | A hole is never the rectangle it was measured as. |
| Concrete, sub-base variation | 5–10% | A slab poured half an inch deep over 200 sq ft is a third of a yard nobody ordered. |
Tons for a 40 × 12 ft drive by thickness
| Compacted thickness (inch) | Tons to order | Compacted volume | Weight before waste |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2 | 6.09 tons | 80 cu ft | 5.8 tons |
| 2.5 | 7.61 tons | 100 cu ft | 7.25 tons |
| 3 | 9.14 tons | 120 cu ft | 8.7 tons |
| 4 | 12.18 tons | 160 cu ft | 11.6 tons |
| 5 | 15.23 tons | 200 cu ft | 14.5 tons |
| 6 | 18.27 tons | 240 cu ft | 17.4 tons |
Thickness in inches, hot mix at 145 lb per cubic foot, 5% waste included in the tonnage.
What does it cost?
Typical price is $100–$200 per ton. Material at the plant. Laid and compacted by a contractor costs several times this, because the price includes the base, the paver and the roller.
| Item | Typical price |
|---|---|
| Hot-mix asphalt, plant pickup | $100–$200 per ton |
| Driveway paved, installed | $7–$15 per sq ft |
| Sealcoating | $0.15–$0.35 per sq ft |
Price ranges as of 2026. Materials pricing moves — treat these as a sanity check on a quote, not as a quote.
The formula
- Area
40 * 12 - Compacted volume
480 * (3 / 12) - Weight before waste
17400 / 2000 - Tons to order
8.7 * (1 + 5 / 100)
Source: Asphalt Institute — mix design and density, FHWA — pavement design and construction
Questions people actually ask
- How many tons of asphalt per square foot?
- At 3 inches compacted, about 0.018 tons — 55 square feet to the ton. The figure scales straight with thickness: 2 inches is 82 square feet to the ton, 4 inches is 41. It is thickness, not area, that decides the number of trucks.
- Why is the answer in tons rather than cubic yards?
- Because a plant sells asphalt hot, by weight, off a truck scale. Volume changes as it cools and compacts — loose mix is roughly a fifth bulkier than the same asphalt rolled — so the only figure that survives the trip is the weight.
- How thick should a driveway be?
- Two to three inches of compacted surface over four to eight inches of compacted aggregate base, for cars. Where delivery trucks turn, four inches or more. The base matters more than the asphalt: most driveway failures are a base that moved, not a surface that wore out.
- Does the thickness I enter mean loose or compacted?
- Compacted. Loose mix laid at 3¾ inches rolls down to about 3, so a crew spreads roughly 25% deeper than the finished figure. Order to the compacted thickness — that is what the density here assumes.
Related
- Gravel & Aggregate CalculatorCubic yards and tons of gravel, sand, limestone or topsoil for an area at a given depth.
- Concrete CalculatorCubic yards of concrete for a slab, round pad, footing, column, wall or stairs, with bag counts and cost.
- Square Footage CalculatorSquare footage of a room, wall, border, gable end, ring or triangle from feet-and-inches measurements, with a waste factor and the cost.
- Brick CalculatorBricks and mortar for a wall, by brick size — modular, queen, king or utility. Includes the mortar bags and the masonry sand, at about 125 bricks a bag.
- Cubic Yard CalculatorCubic yards for any footprint and depth, with a waste allowance and the weight of the debris if you are hauling it away.
- Concrete Block CalculatorBlocks, mortar and fill for a concrete block wall, from its length and height. Blocks, courses, mortar and the concrete it takes to fill the cores.
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