Asphalt Calculator

Multiply the paved area in square feet by the thickness in inches, divide by 12 for cubic feet, multiply by 145 pounds per cubic foot, and divide by 2,000 for tons, then add 5 to 10 percent for waste. A 1,000 square foot driveway at 3 inches is 250 cubic feet, which is about 18 tons, or 20 tons once you add 10 percent. At 3 inches, one ton of asphalt covers about 55 square feet.

Tons equal area in square feet times thickness in inches, divided by 12, times 145 pounds per cubic foot, divided by 2,000. The quick version is tons is about equal to the area times the thickness in inches times 0.006. So 800 square feet at 2 inches is 800 × 2 × 0.006, or about 9.6 tons before waste. Add 5 to 10 percent to order, and this calculator does it for you including an optional base.

One ton of compacted hot-mix asphalt covers about 165 square feet at 1 inch, 83 square feet at 2 inches, 55 at 3 inches, and 41 at 4 inches. Coverage halves as you double the thickness because the tonnage is a volume times a fixed density. These are compacted-thickness figures, so do not apply them to the thicker loose lift the paver spreads before rolling.

About 1.96 tons per cubic yard for compacted hot-mix asphalt at 145 pounds per cubic foot. The common rule of thumb rounds it to 2 tons per cubic yard, which corresponds to a slightly heavier 148 pound mix. A cubic yard is 27 cubic feet, so a yard of asphalt at 145 pounds is 3,915 pounds, just under two tons.

3 inches of compacted asphalt over 6 to 8 inches of crushed-stone base is the typical residential driveway, with 2 inches the practical minimum. A car parking lot is about 3 inches over 6 inches of base, and a heavy or truck lot 4 to 6 inches over 8 inches. The base is as important as the asphalt because it spreads the load and drains water. Actual depths depend on your soil and traffic.

A two-car driveway of about 600 square feet (roughly 20 by 30 feet) at 3 inches of compacted asphalt takes about 11 tons before waste, or roughly 12 tons once you add 10 percent. Under it you would want about 11 cubic yards, or roughly 21 tons before waste (about 23 with 10 percent), of crushed-stone base at 6 inches. Thinner 2 inch asphalt would be about 8 tons instead.

About $7 to $13 per square foot installed for a new driveway in 2026, base and labor included, so a 600 square foot drive is roughly $4,200 to $7,800. The hot mix alone is about $90 to $160 a ton delivered, and crushed-stone base $18 to $31 a ton. An overlay that resurfaces without tearing out the old asphalt is cheaper, around $3 to $7 a square foot. Prices vary by region and the price of oil.

Figure the base like the asphalt: area times thickness in inches, divided by 12 and by 27 for cubic yards, times 1.85 tons per cubic yard for compacted stone. A 1,000 square foot area at 6 inches of base is about 18.5 cubic yards, or 34 tons. Use the compacted 1.85 tons per cubic yard, not the loose delivered weight of about 1.4, which would under-order the base by roughly a third.

The Asphalt Institute rule of thumb is 110 pounds of hot mix per square yard per inch of compacted thickness, which is where the tonnage math comes from (110 pounds per square yard per inch works out to about 146 pounds per cubic foot). State highway departments use spread rates from about 106 to 112 for dense-graded mixes. This calculator uses 145 pounds per cubic foot, right in that range.

By the compacted thickness, which is what this calculator uses. Tonnage is a mass, and mass does not change when the roller compacts the mat, so the compacted-thickness formula already gives the tons to order. The crew handles compaction by laying a thicker loose lift, usually 20 to 25 percent deeper, not by ordering more tons. The only add-on is the waste allowance.

Add 5 to 10 percent over the calculated tonnage. Five percent is enough for a simple rectangular job the paver can machine-lay in one pass; 10 percent covers handwork, tight edges, joints, irregular shapes, and truck cleanout. Because asphalt cools and cannot be reused once it sets, it is better to have a little extra than to run short mid-pour and cold-joint the mat.

A standard highway dump truck or live-bottom trailer holds about 20 to 25 tons of hot mix. That matters on small jobs, because the plant has a minimum order and you pay for a full load whether you use it all or not. It is one reason small driveways round up, and why combining nearby jobs or buying from a plant with a low minimum can save money.

145 pounds per cubic foot for standard dense-graded hot-mix asphalt, which is the industry-average compacted density and what this calculator uses. Real in-place density runs about 142 to 148 pounds, which shifts the tonnage by roughly 2 percent, so confirm with your plant when precision matters. Open-graded and stone-matrix mixes differ, and figures above 150 are maximum lab density, not compacted density, so do not use them for ordering.

Yes. It is free, needs no signup, and runs entirely in your browser. Nothing you enter is uploaded anywhere.

No. This calculator works from an area you type in. To measure a driveway or a parking lot straight off a PDF site plan to scale, so your tonnage matches the civil drawing, use Easy Takeoffs, the construction takeoff software built to measure off plans. 14-day trial, no card.