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Circular Pier / Cylinder Concrete Calculator

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

  • Answers as you type
  • Every formula cited
  • Calculated in your browser
SettingsSettings for this calculationUS
Market
Imperial · sales tax
Who is doing the work?

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

The diameter of the round pier or column.

Measure across the finished concrete, not the formwork tube's outer diameter.

The height of each pier.

Ground-to-top or footing-to-beam height.

How many identical piers you're pouring.

Run this once per distinct diameter if your project has more than one size.

Extra concrete for spillage.

5% is standard for a straightforward pier pour.

Concrete volume needed

9.774 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
1.16 yd³
Base volume (no waste)
9.31 yd³
Then change the inputs to see how far the answer moves.

Show calculation logic

How this was calculated

Formula source(s)

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

Inputs used

Pier Diameter
24 in
Pier Height
10 ft
Number of Piers
8
Waste Factor (%)
5

Intermediate steps

Volume per pier
1.16 yd³
Base volume (no waste)
9.31 yd³
Final result9.77 yd³

Confidence note: 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.

What this calculation does not cover

  • A CYLINDER, AND A BORED PIER IS NOT ONE. An auger in anything but stiff clay leaves a hole wider than its nominal diameter, and a soft or collapsing stratum can over-break substantially — which is why concrete take on bored piers routinely exceeds the calculated volume and why the overbreak is a ground question rather than a waste percentage.
  • No bell, no toe and no casing. A belled pier, a socketed toe into rock, or a permanent liner each change the volume placed, and none of them is an input here.
  • Reinforcement is absent. A pier carrying lateral load or uplift has a cage, and the cage's cover requirement can drive the diameter rather than the load does.
  • Excludes the bell or spread footing at the base where one is required, which is a separate and often larger volume.
  • Does not allow for over-break in an unstable hole, where the excavation exceeds the design diameter and takes more concrete.
  • Cardboard forms must be braced and held down. Fresh concrete will float an unrestrained tube, and a pier that lifts during the pour is a demolition job.

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.

plan: 8 piers24 in60.96 cm10 ft3.05 m

Part of a bigger job

This trade is one line of a job takeoff. Run the whole job and every other trade comes back with it, off the same measurements.

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 citations1
  1. Cylinder volume = pi x radius² x height, the standard geometric formula for a circular pier or column
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.

Tools and safety for this job

To place and finish concrete, erect formwork and saw-cut cured concrete. Generic types, no brands, no prices.

Protection this work requires

  • Cutting or grinding concrete, masonry, screed, tile or fibre-cement board releases respirable silica: cut wet or extract at the tool, and wear a P2/N95 respirator at minimum — a nuisance dust mask does not filter it.
  • Hardwood dust is a recognised carcinogen: extract at the tool and wear a P2/N95 respirator when cutting or sanding indoors.
  • Wet cement and lime burn skin and eyes painlessly until the damage is done: waterproof gloves to EN 374, safety glasses whenever the mix can splash, and never kneel in wet mix in permeable trousers.
  • Saws, grinders and breakers run above 85 dB, where hearing damage accumulates and does not recover: defenders or plugs for every cut, not just the long ones.
  • Breakers and grinders cause permanent nerve damage: limit continuous trigger time, keep hands warm, and stop if fingers tingle or blanch.
  • Boards, blocks and bagged material cause most lasting back injuries on small sites: two people or a lifter for full sheets, and never a bag on one shoulder up a ladder.
Show the 17 tools this job needs

Essential

  • Angle grinder

  • Bull float and edger

  • Circular saw

  • Claw hammer

  • Dust extractor or vacuum with a fine filter

  • Screed bar or rail

  • Shovel and spade

  • Spirit level

  • String line and pins

  • Tape measure

  • Wheelbarrow

Recommended

  • Chalk line

  • Cordless drill/driver

  • Floor or cut-off saw

  • Plate compactor

  • SDS rotary hammer

Optional

  • Power float

Also needed as materials: chalk refill, circular saw blades, cutting and diamond discs, diamond blades, drill and driver bits, SDS bits and chisels.

what each concrete tool is for, and the spec that decides which to buy where one does.

Now that you have the number

These guides cover the work this quantity is for — the first ones run this calculator inside the section that raises the question.

Still deciding? Helical Piles vs Poured Concrete Piers — the factors that actually differ, with no invented prices.

The data behind it: Production rates by operation

How to calculate circular pier / cylinder concrete in 5 steps

  1. Pier DiameterThe diameter of the round pier or column.
  2. Pier HeightThe height of each pier.
  3. Number of PiersHow many identical piers you're pouring.
  4. Waste Factor (%)Extra concrete for spillage.
  5. Concrete volume neededThe tool computes the concrete volume needed from those figures and shows the formula, its sources, and a confidence rating alongside it.

Concrete volume needed by pier diameter

Page defaults, not your figures above.

Pier DiameterConcrete volume needed (yd³)
10 in1.67
20 in6.68
30 in15
40 in26.7

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?
Only where the soil's bearing capacity cannot carry the load through the shaft alone, and that decision belongs to a geotechnical assessment. 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. 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.
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 — a confirmed fix gets a permanent check of its own, so the same mistake cannot come back.