SettingsSettings for this calculationUS
The volume of fill sand in cubic yards.
About 1.3 short tons per cubic yard for fill sand; coarser and less uniform than bedding sand.
Approximate weight
13 short tons
About 1.3 short tons per cubic yard for fill sand; coarser and less uniform than bedding sand. A planning figure, not a specification. Confirm the density with your supplier before ordering by weight.
- Conversion factor applied
- 1.3 short tons per yd³
They open the calculator with your figures already in it
Fill Sand Cubic Yards to Tons Calculator: 13 short tons — shown in imperial, US market. The link sets both, so the result they see is the one on your screen.
Show calculation logicHide calculation logic
How this was calculated
Formula source(s)
- Typical bulk density used here: approximately 1.3 short tons per cubic yard
- Density varies with moisture, grading and compaction — the supplier's ticket weight governs
Inputs used
- Fill Sand volume (yd³)
- 10
Intermediate steps
- Conversion factor applied
- 1.3 short tons per yd³
Confidence note: About 1.3 short tons per cubic yard for fill sand; coarser and less uniform than bedding sand. A planning figure, not a specification. Confirm the density with your supplier before ordering by weight.
What this calculation does not cover
- At 1.3 tons per cubic yard, ten cubic yards of fill sand is about thirteen tons, and a truck body or a large waste container reaches its rated payload well before it is full of it. That rating belongs to the vehicle doing the carrying and changes with the container size, so take the weight limit from the carrier rather than judging the load by how full it looks.
- A volume taped off a stockpile is a poor basis for this conversion. Damp sand bulks — moisture films hold the grains apart — so the heap occupies more room than the sand in it accounts for, and the tonnage comes out high. The effect is strongest at low moisture and falls away as the sand dries out or becomes saturated, so the size of the error moves with the weather.
- The 1.3 figure is loose delivered sand, while a trench or fill volume taken off the drawing is the compacted volume it has to end up as. Vibrated in layers, fill sand is denser than the material that arrived, so the tonnage that actually fills the void is more than this conversion returns.
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
- Typical bulk density used here: approximately 1.3 short tons per cubic yard
- Density varies with moisture, grading and compaction — the supplier's ticket weight governs
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.
Fill sand is the bulk product used for backfill, pipe surrounds and levelling, and it differs from bedding or building sand in grading rather than in kind. It is cheaper and coarser, which suits it to volume applications where the finish does not matter. Because it drains freely and compacts reasonably, it is a common pipe surround material, though the specification usually governs what is permitted around a particular pipe system.