The job
Modelled, not recorded. Every figure here is the answer the Gravel Calculator gives for these inputs, written down in both unit systems and re-run whenever the site is built. No job was carried out, so there is no measured overrun on this page.
The driveway runs 60 ft (18.29 m) from the road to a garage, 10 ft (3.05 m) wide: room for one car with a margin for its doors. It is a new gravel driveway on a prepared subgrade, laid at a finished depth of 4 in (101.6 mm), which sits within the depth range the calculator's second source gives as common residential practice for a driveway base.
The stone is crushed gravel delivered loose and spread, then compacted with a plate or a roller. The compaction allowance stays at the calculator's 20 per cent: a loose pile occupies more space than the same stone rolled into a driveway, and the allowance is how much more to order so that the finished surface reaches the finished depth.
The answer is a weight because that is how quarries and landscape yards sell crushed stone in the US. The calculator converts the loose volume to a weight with a loose bulk density from its first source, a typical figure for crushed stone as delivered; a particular quarry's stone may be a little heavier or lighter, and its yard can say by how much.
The inputs, exactly as entered
| Input | Value | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Length | 60 ft (18.29 m) | From the edge of the road surface to the garage slab, along the centre line of the drive. |
| Width | 10 ft (3.05 m) | The finished width of the gravel between its edges; a timber or steel edging holds it there. |
| Depth | 4 in (101.6 mm) | The compacted depth of the finished driveway, not the depth of the pile as it comes off the truck. |
| Compaction allowance (%) | 20 | Left at the calculator's own default. |
The working, step by step
1. Finished volume
7.41 yd³ (5.66 m³)
Length times width times the finished depth gives 7.41 yd³: the driveway as it will be when it is done. This is the volume a drawing would give, and it is the one figure on this page that is never the quantity to order.
2. Loose volume to order
8.89 yd³ (6.8 m³)
The compaction allowance is added to reach the loose volume: 8.89 yd³. That is the pile as it leaves the truck, before the roller takes it down to the finished depth, and it is the volume a yard that sells by the yard would load.
3. Cubic yards
8.89 yd³
The loose volume restated in cubic yards, 8.89 yd³, the unit a landscape yard quotes by. On this driveway it equals the row above, because the job is read in US units already; on a metric reading of the calculator the same row is the conversion.
4. US short tons
11.99 tons
The loose volume times the loose bulk density gives the weight: 11.99 tons, in the short tons a US quarry ticket uses. The headline rounds the same figure for ordering, and it is the number to give a quarry that sells by weight.
Gravel required
12 US short tons
10.9 metric tonnes
Order 12 US short tons, which is 10.9 metric tonnes, from a quarry that sells by weight, or 8.89 yd³ loose from a yard that sells by volume; they are the same stone. A tandem dump truck carries a limited load, so a driveway this size may be one delivery or two, and the yard will say which. Either way, the stone should be spread in layers and compacted as it goes, because a full depth spread at once never compacts evenly through.
What to buy
| Quantity | Figure | What it is for |
|---|---|---|
| Gravel required | 12 US short tons (10.9 metric tonnes) | The stone to order by weight, compaction allowance included. |
| Cubic yards | 8.89 yd³ | The same stone by loose volume, for a yard that sells by the yard rather than by the ton. |
The allowance, and what it does here
This calculator's allowance is compaction rather than waste, 20 per cent of the finished volume, because nothing is really wasted on a gravel job: it is pressed down. The figure suits crushed stone rolled into a firm surface. A rounded pea gravel barely compacts and needs less; a dense-graded base that locks together under a roller needs more and is better counted by its in-place density on the base course page. Stone pushed into soft subgrade is neither, and a geotextile under the stone is the usual answer to that.
The common mistake
Ordering the finished volume
The driveway's own volume, length times width times depth, is the number that comes to mind first, and it is short of what is needed by the whole compaction allowance: the truck tips loose stone, and a loose pile rolled flat ends up thinner than it started. Ordering the finished volume leaves a driveway about a sixth thinner than planned, or a second delivery for the last stretch. Order the loose volume or its weight, as the calculator gives them, and keep the finished volume for checking the depth with a tape after rolling.
Change the job, and see what moves
The same driveway, laid deeper
Depth: 6 in (152.4 mm) → 18 US short tons (16.3 metric tonnes)
Lay the driveway deeper, to 6 in, the deeper end of the calculator's residential range and a common choice over soft ground or for heavier vehicles, and the order becomes 18 US short tons. Depth multiplies straight through every row, so half as much again of depth is half as much again of stone and, on a driveway this size, likely another truck.
The same driveway, topped up loose over an old base
Compaction allowance (%): 0 → 9.99 US short tons (9.06 metric tonnes)
Topping up an old, well-compacted driveway with a loose surface layer that will not be rolled is the case for no compaction allowance, and then the same dimensions take 9.99 US short tons. It is the right figure only when the stone is not going to be compacted; for a new driveway it leaves the finished surface short of its depth.
What to run next
- Driveway Separation Geotextile Roll Calculator
A fabric under the stone keeps it from sinking into the subgrade, and is bought in rolls for the same area.
- Roadway Base Course Aggregate Tonnage Calculator
A dense-graded base under a decorative top layer is ordered by its compacted in-place density rather than by loose stone.
- Gravel Cubic Yards to Tons Calculator
Converts between the yard and the ton for a particular stone, when a quarry quotes one and the plan uses the other.
Sources
The method and every constant behind these figures belong to the Gravel Calculator, version 1.1.0, last verified 2026-09-26. It rests on:
- Typical LOOSE bulk density of crushed stone or gravel as delivered, 1600 kg/m³ (100 lb/ft³) — the site's material density table gives gravel, dry loose, at 1600 kg/m³ and crushed stone at 1550 kg/m³ (97 lb/ft³); a rolled dense-graded base is about 2200 kg/m³ (137 lb/ft³) in place (Wisconsin DOT 1.85 US tons per cubic yard)
- Driveway base depth 100-150 mm (4-6 in) over a prepared subgrade — common residential practice
Frequently asked questions
- How much gravel for a 60 by 10 ft driveway?
- At a finished depth of 4 in with the calculator's 20 per cent compaction allowance, 12 US short tons, which is 8.89 yd³ of loose stone.
- Why order more gravel than the driveway's volume?
- Because loose stone compacts. The finished driveway is 7.41 yd³, but the loose stone that rolls down to it is 8.89 yd³.
- How many tons of gravel is a cubic yard?
- It depends on the stone. At the loose bulk density the calculator uses, 8.89 yd³ of this driveway's stone weighs 11.99 tons; a denser stone weighs more for the same volume.