Gravel Calculator

Gravel is measured by volume but usually sold by weight. Multiply length × width × depth in feet and divide by 27 for cubic yards, then multiply by the material's density to get tons. Crushed stone runs about 1.4 tons per cubic yard, pea gravel a little less, and sand slightly more — figures that shift with moisture, so treat them as estimates and confirm with the quarry.

At 3 inches deep that is 20 × 10 × 0.25 = 50 cubic feet, or 1.85 cubic yards — about 2.6 tons of crushed stone. In bagged form that same job is roughly 100 fifty-pound bags, which is the moment bulk delivery starts looking obvious: one pickup load beats five trips and a hundred torn bags.

Depth is driven by load, not looks. Walkways and garden paths need 2–3 inches; a driveway wants 4–6 inches, often in two layers with a coarser base beneath a finer top; French drains and trenches get filled to purpose. For a new driveway, plan on a compacted sub-base of larger stone plus a surface course, and calculate each layer separately rather than as one thick pour.

Angular crushed stone compacts roughly 15–20% once rolled or tamped, so the loose volume you order is more than the finished depth suggests. Rounded river rock and pea gravel barely compact at all, which is why they stay loose underfoot and migrate out of beds without an edge restraint. If compaction matters, order for the compacted depth and add that 15–20% on top.

Most suppliers have a minimum delivery and charge by the ton, with a short-load fee under a few yards. A cubic yard of gravel weighs 2,600–2,900 lb, so check what your driveway and your vehicle can carry: a half-ton pickup is legally over its limit with much less than a full yard. Have the pile dropped as close to the work as the truck can safely reach — every foot of wheelbarrow run costs real time.