Driveway gravel calculator.
Enter your driveway’s length and width to estimate cubic yards, tons, and truck loads for the base and surface layers.
How much gravel do I need?
Load estimates use a 35-ton planning example. Confirm actual truck payload and delivery access with dispatch.
A single-car drive is about 10–12 ft. Two cars wide is 20–24 ft.
The formula behind it
Everything else is unit conversion. Depth is almost always given in inches, so divide the inches by 12 first — 4 inches is 0.333 feet. The 27 turns cubic feet into cubic yards, since a yard is three feet on every side.
To get tons, multiply cubic yards by the material's density. Aggregate is sold by weight, not volume, so tons is the number that ends up on the ticket. Crusher run runs about 1.50 tons per cubic yard; #57 limestone about 1.35.
Examples for common driveway sizes
These are the calculator's default "New driveway" numbers: a 4-inch crusher run base at 1.50 tons per cubic yard and a 3-inch #57 limestone surface at 1.35. The last column adds the 15% allowance for compaction and spread loss that the tool applies when that box is checked.
| Driveway | 4" base | 3" surface | Total | With 15% |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Small, 50 × 10 ft | 9.3 t | 6.3 t | 15.5 t | 17.8 t |
| Standard, 100 × 12 ft | 22.2 t | 15.0 t | 37.2 t | 42.8 t |
| Long, 200 × 12 ft | 44.4 t | 30.0 t | 74.4 t | 85.6 t |
| Wide, 100 × 16 ft | 29.6 t | 20.0 t | 49.6 t | 57.1 t |
In volume, the standard 100 × 12 ft drive takes about 14.8 cubic yards of base and 11.1 of surface stone before the allowance. Our guide to how much gravel a driveway needs uses the same four sizes with a 6-inch base and its own density estimates, so its totals come out higher.
How do I calculate crusher run (crush and run)?
Multiply the length by the width in feet, multiply by the depth in inches, and divide by 324 to get cubic yards, then multiply by 1.5 for tons. A 12-by-60-foot driveway base at 4 inches deep is about 8.9 cubic yards, or roughly 13.3 tons of crusher run. Pick crusher run in the calculator above and it does this for you.
How much #57 gravel do I need?
Use the same volume formula, then multiply the cubic yards by 1.35 for tons. A 12-by-60-foot driveway with a 3-inch #57 surface needs about 6.7 cubic yards, or roughly 9 tons. #57 limestone is lighter per yard than crusher run because it has no fines filling the gaps.
How do I calculate crusher dust or screenings?
Crusher dust is another name for screenings, and the math is the same: cubic yards times 1.5 for tons. A 40-by-3-foot path at 2 inches deep takes about 0.74 cubic yards, or roughly 1.1 tons. See limestone screenings for what it is used for.
How deep should the gravel be?
A driveway is two materials doing two different jobs. The base carries the load and has to compact solid. The surface drains, sheds water, and is the part you look at. Skipping the base is the single most common reason a gravel driveway develops ruts inside a year.
| Driveway | Base — crusher run | Surface — #57 |
|---|---|---|
| New residential drive | 4–6" compacted | 2–3" |
| Resurfacing over solid base | — | 2–3" |
| Soft or clay-heavy subgrade | 6–8" over fabric | 2–3" |
| Truck or equipment traffic | 8–12" compacted | 3–4" |
In Missouri the freeze-thaw cycle is what decides whether a driveway survives its third winter. Water that sits in the base freezes, expands, and lifts the surface; when it thaws, the voids stay and the drive settles unevenly. Both problems are drainage problems, which is why the base gets compacted in lifts and the drive gets crowned to shed water rather than hold it.
Which stone goes in each layer?
The base is the compacted bottom layer. It carries the weight of the vehicles and keeps the drive from sinking into the subgrade, so it needs stone that locks together. The surface is the top layer you drive on and see. It sheds water and takes the wear, and it gets replenished over the years while the base stays put.
- Base: crusher run, a blend of ¾-inch minus crushed stone and fines. The fines fill the gaps between the larger stone and lock it together when compacted. Bank run gravel is an economy base; it is unscreened, so its gradation varies from batch to batch.
- Surface: #57 limestone, clean ¾-inch angular stone. It drains well and looks uniform, but with no fines it shifts more under turning tires. Crusher run also works as a surface and holds its position better. Pea gravel can top a packed base, but it is rounded, migrates under tires, and needs edging, so keep it to low-traffic drives.
- Not a driveway layer: limestone screenings are for compacted walking paths and are no substitute for a structural base.
For the full two-layer build, including compaction in lifts and fabric over clay, read how much gravel you need for a driveway.
Why order more than the calculator says
The number above is the finished, in-place volume. Loose gravel loses roughly 10–20% of its volume once it is compacted, and more disappears into the edges, the low spots, and the subgrade on the first pass. The 15% allowance in the tool covers most residential jobs. On soft ground or an unedged drive, go higher.
The other reason to round up: material is cheaper by the load than by the trip. Coming back for three more tons costs the same mobilization as the first delivery did.
Turning yards into truck loads
This calculator uses 35 tons per load as a planning example. Dispatch confirms the actual truck and payload. Because materials weigh differently, that is a different volume for each one — about 23 cubic yards of crusher run, or 26 yards of #57. The calculator handles the conversion, but this table is useful when you are estimating in your head.
| Material | Tons / yd³ | Yards per 35-ton load |
|---|---|---|
| Crusher Run | 1.50 | 23.3 yd³ |
| #57 Limestone | 1.35 | 25.9 yd³ |
| Limestone Screenings | 1.50 | 23.3 yd³ |
| Pea Gravel | 1.30 | 26.9 yd³ |
| Bank Run Gravel | 1.40 | 25.0 yd³ |
Working with something other than gravel? The full materials calculator covers everything we stock, including topsoil and fill dirt, and can size an order from a total quantity instead of dimensions.
Sources: NIST Handbook 44, Appendix C, General Tables of Units of Measurement: 12 inches equal 1 foot and 27 cubic feet equal 1 cubic yard, the conversions behind dividing by 12 and by 27.