Gravel
Footprint times depth becomes yards — and the tonnage the quarry truck actually charges you for.
Your buy list
0
tons · about 0 yd³- Area covered
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- Volume needed
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- Truck loads
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Quarries round delivery to whole yards — order up, never down.
Why gravel sells by weight
You dig by volume but buy by weight, because a loader bucket's worth of wet crushed stone and dry pea gravel fill the same space and weigh different amounts. The bridge between them is density — around 1.4 tons per cubic yard for common crushed products — which turns your carefully measured depth into the number on the invoice.
Depth choice carries more risk than any other number here: two inches looks great the day it spreads and disappears into mud by spring. Four inches minimum wherever wheels roll.
The truck-load line
A standard single-axle dump delivers about 10 tons; a small trailer tows 2. The estimate above divides your tonnage so you know whether this is one phone call or three weekend hauls.
On the counter
The assumptions this calculator ships with — every one is adjustable in the form.
- Density
- 1.4 tons per cubic yard — typical crushed stone
- Depth
- Set per project: 2" paths, 4" driveways, 6" soft ground
- Ordering
- Suppliers deliver in whole-yard increments; round up
Questions from the aisle
How much does a cubic yard of gravel weigh?
Roughly 1.4 tons for typical crushed stone — the density this calculator assumes. Pea gravel runs a touch lighter, dense crusher run heavier; the supplier's scale is final.
How deep should a gravel driveway be?
4 inches over stable soil, 6+ inches over soft ground. Driveways also want 3–4 inch stone as a base course with finer gravel on top — calculate each layer separately.
Bags or bulk?
Bulk, almost always. A half-ton pickup hauls maybe a third of a yard legally, and 0.5 cu ft bags mean forty trips to the parking lot for one yard.
Does gravel compact or settle?
Yes — crushed stone with fines compacts to near its ordered volume; rounded pea gravel settles and scatters. Order 10% extra on soft subgrade to stay level after the first winter.