Gravel Calculator

How to Estimate How Much Gravel You Need

Gravel and other landscaping material are often sold either by the ton or the cubic yard. While this varies by supplier, many sell large volumes by weight in tons.

Therefore, to know how much material you will need to order, you will need to start with getting the weight of the material you need.

To find the weight of material in tons, you’ll need to know the approximate density of the material. Fortunately, there are some common densities that you can use for these calculations. See the chart below to see how many tons are in a cubic yard of gravel.

Step One: Calculate Volume in Yards

In addition to the weight of the material, you also need to know the volume of the space you are filling. Both weight per cubic yard and the total volume are necessary to determine how many tons you will need to order. Therefore, the first step to estimating how much gravel, sand, or soil you need is to estimate the volume of material needed.

Start by measuring the length, width, and depth of the area you need to fill in the same unit of measurement.

Multiply the length, width, and height together to find the volume of the space. If you measured in inches, then what you have is the volume needed in cubic inches, and if you measured in feet, then you have your total cubic feet.

Next, convert the volume to cubic yards.

If the initial measurements were in inches, then convert cubic inches to cubic yards by dividing the total number of cubic inches by 46,656. If the initial measurements were in feet, then divide the total number of cubic feet by 27 to get cubic yards.

Step Two: Calculate Gravel Weight in Tons

Armed with the volume of material needed in cubic yards, the weight of material in tons can be found by multiplying the volume by the material density. Most gravel weighs 1.4 to 1.7 tons per cubic yard. See below for more common material densities.

For example, let’s find the amount of gravel needed for a space that is 10 feet long, 10 feet wide, and 1 foot deep.