Gravel / Stone Calculator

Gravel is the unnoticed workhorse of every site: it carries the driveway, drains the patio, builds the base a concrete slab sits on, and gives landscape beds their mulch-free finish. It is also sold in units that confuse most people. The quarry quotes tons, the drawings show cubic yards, the directions say four inches — and none of them match until you run the conversion.

Gravel Calculator takes the length, width and depth of the area you need to cover and returns the volume in cubic yards, cubic metres and cubic feet, then converts it to pounds and tons using the density of the exact stone you plan to buy. Choose from crushed limestone, crushed granite, pea gravel, river rock, bank-run gravel and more, set a compaction allowance for structural bases, and let it plan the deliveries for you.

The learning guide explains how deep each project needs, why crushed stone and pea gravel behave differently under load, and how to convert yards to tons in your head. Everything is calculated locally in the browser.

• Rectangular or circular area: Length and width for driveways and beds, or a diameter for round patios and fire-pit rings.
• Stone-type presets: Crushed limestone, crushed granite, pea gravel, river rock, bank-run (all-in) gravel and sand — each with its real loose density.
• Custom density: Override the density for a specific supplier or quarried material.
• Imperial or metric: Feet, inches, yards and metres, with volume reported in cubic yards, cubic metres and cubic feet together.
• Compaction allowance: Add 10–20 percent for bases that are compacted in place, so you order the loose material that actually makes the specified layer.
• Weight conversions: Pounds, tons (US short tons and metric tonnes), in the way quarries and trucking quote.
• Delivery planning: Approximate dump-truck loads so you can schedule deliveries or spread the order.
• Live estimate: Volume and tonnage update as you type, with the conversion maths shown step by step.
• Export: Copy or download the full material report as text, CSV or JSON.
• Learning guide: Depth-by-project table, stone-type guide, compaction notes and real conversion examples.

1. Choose the shape. Rectangle for driveways, patios and beds; circle for round areas and fire pits.
2. Enter the dimensions. Feet, inches, yards or metres — all convert to the same volume beneath.
3. Set the depth. 2–3 in for decorative mulch-style bedding, 4 in standard for driveways and patio bases, 6–8 in for heavy bases and parking.
4. Pick the stone type. Crushed stone for bases and driveways, pea gravel or river rock for decoration and drainage channels.
5. Add compaction (optional). For compacted bases add about 15 percent so the delivered loose stone finishes at the specified depth.
6. Read the estimate. Cubic yards, cubic metres and cubic feet show immediately, with tons, tonnes and truckloads beneath.
7. Review the working. The maths line shows volume × density ÷ 2,000 so every conversion is traceable.
8. Export the report. Copy or download as text, CSV or JSON for the quarry order or invoice.
9. Check the guide. The learning tab has depth recommendations and a real world yards-to-tons example.

Example 1 — Driveway. A 40 × 12 ft driveway at 4 inches deep: 40×12×(4/12) = 160 cu ft ≈ 5.9 cu yd. Crushed limestone at 100 lb/cu ft weighs about 8 tons, or about one tandem-axle dump truck.

Example 2 — Patio base. A 16 × 12 ft patio base at 4 inches: 16×12×0.333 = 64 cu ft ≈ 2.4 cu yd ≈ 3.2 tons of 3/4-inch crushed stone with compaction.

Example 3 — Pea gravel bed. A 20 × 6 ft border bed at 3 inches of pea gravel: 20×6×0.25 = 30 cu ft ≈ 1.1 cu yd ≈ 2,850 lb or about 1.4 tons.

Example 4 — Round fire pit. A 5 ft diameter ring filled 6 inches: area π×2.5² ≈ 19.6 sq ft × 0.5 ft = 9.8 cu ft ≈ 980 lb of river rock — close to half a ton.

Example 5 — Checking a quote. A contractor quotes 6 cu yd of stone for a pad. The calculator at the same dimensions says 5.2 cu yd plus 15 percent compaction — the quote is close, and you know it includes waste.

• Order in the unit the quarry sells: Tons and cubic yards both shown, with the conversion maths transparent.
• Right stone for the job: Presets stop you ordering decorative pea gravel for a structural base or the reverse.
• Plan deliveries: The truck-count estimate tells you whether it is one trip or three.
• Compact with confidence: The allowance turns a neat volume into the actual loose material you must buy.
• Metric and imperial: Works from inches to metres without a single manual conversion.
• Explainable numbers: Volume → weight → truckload follows one clear line of working.
• Export-ready: Text, CSV and JSON reports drop straight into purchase orders.
• Free and private: No uploads, no accounts, no logging.