gizmobench

Asphalt Calculator

Type a length and a width, or an area you already have, with the thickness the job is being laid at, and read the compacted volume before the tonnage that follows from it. The density is a field on this page rather than a constant behind it: it opens at 145 lb per cubic foot, the middle of the 140 to 150 hot mix commonly runs, and your supplier's own figure types straight over the top. The example the page opens on, 60 feet by 24 feet at 3 inches, is 1,440 square feet and 13.33 cubic yards compacted, weighing 26.10 US tons at that density and 28.19 US tons once the 8 percent waste allowance is added. Both numbers stay on the screen, because a tonnage with the allowance folded invisibly into it is a figure you cannot check. Switching between imperial and metric converts what you already typed instead of clearing it, and the thickness is the one number this page never picks: it reads back the one you enter.

Order about28.19tons14.40 cu yd at 145 lb/ft³, including 8% waste60 ft by 24 ft at 3 in, which is 1,440 sq ft
Measured as
Length ft
Width ft
Thickness in
Density lb/ft³
Waste %
Units

60 ft by 24 ft at 3 in at 145 lb/ft³: 1,440 sq ft, 13.33 cu yd compacted, 28.19 tons with 8% waste

The density is the figure everything after the volume depends on, so it is a field and not a hidden constant. Hot mix commonly runs between 140 and 150 lb per cubic foot, which is 2242 to 2403 kg per cubic metre, and this page opens at 145 lb/ft³: type your supplier’s figure over it and every number below follows. Switching between imperial and metric rewrites what you already typed into the other system rather than clearing it. The measurements it opens with are an example, and the thickness among them is part of that example: this page computes what your numbers give and takes the thickness from whoever specified your job.

Optional, and never saved. No rate is suggested here: asphalt is priced locally and it moves with the oil market.
  • Arealength by width
    1,440 sq ft · 133.78 m²
  • Compacted volumearea by thickness
    360.00 cu ft · 13.33 cu yd · 26.10 tons
  • With 8% wastewhat you would order
    14.40 cu yd · 28.19 tons · 56,376 lb
Exact about the arithmetic, open about the assumption. Exact arithmetic on the numbers you enter: area times thickness is the volume, and volume times the density you set is the mass. Hot mix runs roughly 140 to 150 lb per cubic foot depending on the mix, so change the density to the one your supplier quotes. This estimates material only, not compaction, base preparation, delivery or labour. The compacted volume is shown before the allowance and the allowance is a percentage you set, so the two are never blended into one figure you cannot take apart. There is no price list and no supplier here: type your own rate and the page multiplies it.

Common questions

How is the tonnage worked out?
Area times thickness gives the compacted volume, and that volume times the density gives the mass. Nothing else is applied. Take the example the page opens on: 60 feet by 24 feet is 1,440 square feet, at 3 inches that is 360 cubic feet or 13.33 cubic yards, and at 145 lb per cubic foot it weighs 52,200 lb, which is 26.10 US tons. The 8 percent allowance multiplies both the volume and the mass, so the page shows 14.40 cubic yards and 28.19 US tons as the figure you would order. The metric path is the same arithmetic in metric units: 100 square metres laid 5 cm thick is 5 cubic metres, and at 2,400 kg per cubic metre that is 12 tonnes. Those steps are all on the screen at the same time, the area, the compacted volume, the compacted tonnage and the ordered tonnage, which is the point: you can check the one you doubt instead of trusting a single figure.
Why does the density matter, and what figure should I put in?
Because it is the only assumption between your measurements and your order, and it is the one most calculators hide. Compacted hot mix commonly runs between 140 and 150 lb per cubic foot, which is roughly 2,242 to 2,403 kg per cubic metre, and where a mix sits in that range depends on its aggregate and its binder content. On the page's own example that spread is the difference between 25.20 and 27.00 US tons before any waste, which is real money on a small job. This page opens at 145 lb per cubic foot, or 2,322 kg per cubic metre for the same material, and the field is editable: the figure on your supplier's quote is the one that will be on your ticket, so type theirs in and every number below it follows.
How much waste should I add?
That is your call, and the field is there so the number is visible rather than baked in. Whatever percentage you type multiplies both the volume and the mass, and the compacted figure stays on the screen beside it, so you can always see what the allowance added. The page opens at 8 percent. Allowances of roughly 5 to 10 percent are common on small jobs, because not every ton that leaves the plant ends up in the finished surface: some is lost at the edges and the joints, some sticks in the truck, and a hand-laid mat is rarely uniform. Type 0 and the ordered figure is exactly the compacted figure. A big job with a paver and a tight spec wastes proportionally less than a small hand-laid one.
How many tons is a cubic yard of asphalt?
A cubic yard is 27 cubic feet, so at 145 lb per cubic foot it weighs 3,915 lb, which is 1.96 US tons. At the bottom of the usual range, 140 lb per cubic foot, it is 1.89 US tons, and at 150 it is 2.03. That is why a tonnage quoted without its density cannot be checked. You can reproduce any of these here: the page prints the compacted volume in cubic yards beside the mass, at whatever density is in the field.
Does this page choose the thickness for me?
No. It computes what your numbers give and reads the thickness back to you. The 3 inches it opens with is part of an example, along with the 60 by 24 feet, because the page has to open on something, and every field is typed over. What a surface is laid at depends on the ground under it, on what will drive over it and on the specification for the job, and that belongs with whoever is specifying or quoting the work, not with a quantity calculator.
What is this number not telling me?
It is material only. It does not include base preparation, the stone underneath, tack coat, delivery, plant or labour, and it is not a paving quote. It also assumes the thickness you typed is the finished compacted thickness, which is how a supplier's tonnage is normally worked out: loose mix occupies more depth before it is rolled, so if a figure you were given is for loose material it will not match this one. The page cannot know your site, your access or your local price, which is why the rate field is empty and suggests nothing.
Is anything uploaded, and does it cost anything?
No. The arithmetic runs in your browser, there is no account, and nothing is sent anywhere. Your measurements, the units and whether you entered a length and a width or an area are kept in your browser's own storage so the page opens where you left it, and clearing your browser data clears that too. The rate field is the one thing that is never saved. There is no price list here and no supplier: asphalt is priced locally and moves with the oil market, so the page multiplies the rate you type and proposes none of its own.

Exact arithmetic on the numbers you enter: area times thickness is the volume, and volume times the density you set is the mass. Hot mix runs roughly 140 to 150 lb per cubic foot depending on the mix, so change the density to the one your supplier quotes. This estimates material only, not compaction, base preparation, delivery or labour.