Calculator + chartEnter your measurements below and it works the answer out.
Asphalt is ordered and priced by the ton, so tons are the answer here. The number that moves it is the compacted unit weight of your mix — around 145 lb per cubic foot is a common working figure, and yours is on the mix design.
| Compacted depth | Cubic feet | Compacted cubic yards | Tons |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1.5 in | 125 | 4.63 | 9.06 |
| 2 in | 167 | 6.17 | 12.08 |
| 2.5 in | 208 | 7.72 | 15.10 |
| 3 in | 250 | 9.26 | 18.13 |
| 4 in | 333 | 12.35 | 24.17 |
| 6 in | 500 | 18.52 | 36.25 |
Every row is 1,000 sq ft × depth in feet for the volume, then × 145 lb ÷ 2,000 for the tons, before any overage. 145 lb per cubic foot is a common working estimate for compacted hot mix, not a specification — swap in your own figure in the calculator and these numbers move with it.
Tons, because that is how it is sold. Plants quote, load and invoice hot mix by the ton. Cubic yards are useful as a cross-check on the geometry, but ordering by volume means converting twice and being wrong once, so this page leads with tons.
The arithmetic. Area in square feet × compacted depth in feet = cubic feet. Cubic feet × unit weight in lb per cubic foot ÷ 2,000 = tons. Then add the overage. A 40 by 20 ft driveway at 3 in compacted is 200 cubic feet, which at 145 lb per cubic foot is 14.5 tons before overage.
Compacted depth, not loose depth. Hot mix compacts by roughly a quarter under the roller, so a 3 in finished surface is laid appreciably thicker. Enter the finished compacted depth — that is what the tonnage has to cover, and it is what a specification refers to.
Density is the variable, and it is not about moisture. The unit weight of compacted asphalt depends on the mix design — the aggregate, its gradation and the binder content — and it is a property of the product, not of the weather. That is why it is an input here rather than a fixed constant, and why the plant supplying you can tell you the right number. Around 145 lb per cubic foot is a reasonable working estimate in the absence of one.
Five per cent overage. It covers edges, the material left in the barrow, and the bit at the end of the run that cools before it is raked out. Hot mix cannot be stored — what is delivered is laid that day — so the allowance is deliberately modest, and a small shortfall is far cheaper to fix than a large surplus is to dispose of.
Multiply the area in square feet by the compacted depth in feet for cubic feet, then multiply by the unit weight in pounds per cubic foot and divide by 2,000. A 40 by 20 ft driveway at 3 in compacted is 200 cubic feet, about 14.5 tons at 145 lb per cubic foot, before overage.
By the ton. Plants quote, weigh and invoice by weight, and the delivery ticket is in tons. Cubic yards are only useful as a cross-check that the geometry is right.
At 145 lb per cubic foot, a compacted cubic yard is about 1.96 tons. But the unit weight belongs to the mix design rather than to asphalt in general, so ask the plant for the figure for what you are buying.
Three inches of compacted hot mix over four to six inches of compacted aggregate base for cars. Two inches is a resurfacing layer over sound existing asphalt. The base matters more than the mat — a thick surface over soft ground fails as fast as a thin one.
Because hot mix compacts by roughly a quarter under the roller. The finished compacted thickness is what a specification calls for and what the tonnage has to deliver; entering the loose depth would over-order.
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