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Circular Pier / Cylinder Concrete Calculator

Estimate the concrete volume needed for round piers, columns, or bollards.

Computed in your browser — nothing you enter is uploaded. Figures are presented for United States against IRC 2024, and every formula is cited under regulatory standards below.

Last verified 2026-08-26 · v1.0.0

Market
Imperial · sales tax
1.97 ft
Schematic, drawn to the proportions you entered — not to scale on screen.
Who is doing the work?

Waste is set to 5% by hand. Pick a tier above to replace it, or keep your own figure.

Concrete volume needed

9.32 yd³

High confidence

A circular pier is cast in a tube that must be held plumb and restrained against flotation. The volume is straightforward geometry; keeping the form where you put it while the concrete goes in is the part that goes wrong.

Volume per pier
1.11 yd³
Base volume (no waste)
8.88 yd³

With the figures above, the concrete volume needed comes to 7.13 m³. Behind that figure, base volume (no waste) is the biggest single quantity at 6.79 m³; start there if the total looks wrong. Note that number of piers sits at the low end of the range this calculator was checked against, so treat the output as indicative rather than settled. This is calculated for United States and cites IRC 2024. Building in another market? Change the selector above so the units and code reference follow.

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.

Preliminary estimate, not certified engineering. This tool produces an indicative quantity calculation for planning purposes only — it is not a certified structural analysis, a guaranteed material takeoff, or a substitute for building department approval. Always verify measurements on-site and have a licensed contractor or structural engineer review any load-bearing, code-sensitive, or safety-critical work before purchasing materials or starting construction. Spotted an arithmetic or standards error? Report it to contact@craftquantities.com with your inputs — confirmed fixes become pinned regression tests.

[Schema Verified] Computed in alignment with American Concrete Institute (ACI 318-19) formulas and International Residential Code (IRC 2024) spatial boundaries.

Regulatory standards & verification citations

  • Cylinder volume = pi x radius² x height, the standard geometric formula for a circular pier or column

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.

Frequently asked questions

Why does my pier take more concrete than calculated?
Over-break. In loose or wet ground the sides of the hole slough in and the excavation ends up wider than the design diameter, so the concrete fills a hole rather than a cylinder. In bad ground the difference can be substantial. A form tube is the usual answer — it fixes the volume as well as the shape.
Can concrete really float a form tube?
Easily, and it is a well-known failure. Fresh concrete is around 2,400 kg per cubic metre and a cardboard tube weighs almost nothing, so as concrete is placed around the outside of an unrestrained tube it lifts. The tube must be held down and braced plumb before any concrete goes near it.
Does the pier need a wider footing at the base?
It depends on the soil's bearing capacity and the load. A straight-shaft pier relies on end bearing over its own area plus side friction; where that is insufficient, a bell or a spread footing at the base increases the bearing area. That decision belongs to a geotechnical assessment, and the extra volume is not included in a shaft calculation.
How deep does it go?
Below the frost line where ground freezes, and to a stratum with adequate bearing regardless. Those two requirements are independent and either can govern — a pier deep enough for frost may still be sitting on unsuitable material, and one on good bearing at shallow depth will still be heaved by frost.