SettingsSettings for this calculationUS
The tonnage quoted, ordered or delivered.
About 1.96 short tons per cubic yard for compacted hot-mix asphalt — 145 lb per cubic foot over 27 cubic feet — which is the same density the Asphalt Driveway Calculator applies, so the two pages agree on the same load.
Approximate volume
5.109 yd³
About 1.96 short tons per cubic yard for compacted hot-mix asphalt — 145 lb per cubic foot over 27 cubic feet — which is the same density the Asphalt Driveway Calculator applies, so the two pages agree on the same load. The inverse of the volume-to-weight figure. Compare the resulting volume against your compacted or settled requirement, not the loose figure.
- Conversion factor applied
- 0.51 yd³ per short ton
They open the calculator with your figures already in it
Asphalt Tons to Cubic Yards Calculator: 5.11 yd³ — shown in imperial, US market. The link sets both, so the result they see is the one on your screen.
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How this was calculated
Formula source(s)
- Inverse of approximately 1.9575 short tons per cubic yard
- 1 short ton = 2,000 lb; a metric tonne is about 10% heavier
Inputs used
- Asphalt weight (short tons)
- 10
Intermediate steps
- Conversion factor applied
- 0.51 yd³ per short ton
Confidence note: About 1.96 short tons per cubic yard for compacted hot-mix asphalt — 145 lb per cubic foot over 27 cubic feet — which is the same density the Asphalt Driveway Calculator applies, so the two pages agree on the same load. The inverse of the volume-to-weight figure. Compare the resulting volume against your compacted or settled requirement, not the loose figure.
What this calculation does not cover
- Not all of a delivered tonnage becomes pavement. Mix clings in the lorry body and the paver hopper, hand-work around gullies, ironwork and kerb lines wastes more than a machine-laid run does, and the edge trimmed back where the next run butts against it takes out material already paid for. The volume above is what that tonnage would make as finished mat, not what will finish up in yours.
- Dividing this volume by the area gives an average depth, not the depth you get everywhere. A paver screed floats on what is beneath it and only partly irons out ruts, patching and settlement, so hollows draw extra material while high spots take less, and bringing a poor base back to shape is a quantity in its own right rather than something the surfacing load absorbs. An under-rolled mat then goes on densifying under traffic, so the wheel paths lose a little more depth after the surface is opened.
- A quoted tonnage often spans more than one course. Binder course and surface course are different mixes, laid at different densities to separately specified thicknesses, so a combined tonnage converted at a single density gives a depth that belongs to neither. Split it by course against the delivery tickets before comparing anything with a specified thickness.
Estimated cost — your price
This site holds no price list for this material — local prices vary too much to publish honestly. Enter your supplier's price and the result is costed with it.
Computed in your browser — nothing you enter is uploaded. Presented in US customary units and US trade terminology. Where a formula follows a published standard, that standard and its edition are cited beside it on this page; where none governs, the page says so. Local amendments override model codes — verify against the code in force where you build.
Sources checked 2026-08-26 · in the site-wide review of 2026-09-06 · v1.0.0
Regulatory standards & verification citations2
- Inverse of approximately 1.9575 short tons per cubic yard
- 1 short ton = 2,000 lb; a metric tonne is about 10% heavier
Cite this page
Your workspace
Most jobs need more than one number. Add the calculators you need next and they open right here, underneath this one — your figures stay on screen and nothing is lost to a page change.
Turning an asphalt tonnage back into volume is how you check whether a quoted load will actually achieve the specified compacted depth over the area. The answer depends on compaction, which is where estimates go wrong: the same tonnage laid and rolled properly covers less area at the correct thickness than the same tonnage spread thin. Because asphalt thickness governs how the surface carries load, making the material stretch by laying it thinner is a false economy that shortens the life of the surface considerably rather than saving money.