Asphalt Calculator

Hot mix asphalt is sold and priced by the ton, so the tons figure is the one to check against a quote. Compacted hot mix weighs about 149 lb per cubic foot, and a short ton is 2,000 lb. The 50 lb cold patch bag used in the bag count yields 0.5 cu ft once it is compacted.

How to use this calculator

1. Pick the shape. Use a rectangle for a driveway, parking pad or patch, a circle for a round turnaround, and a triangle for a wedge-shaped corner.
2. Enter the length and width in feet and the thickness in inches. Use the compacted thickness, not the loose depth the crew spreads, because the roller packs the mix down.
3. Enter a driveway's bottom and surface courses together as one thickness, or run each course separately and add the two tons figures.
4. Leave the waste at zero for an exact volume, or add a percentage when the base is uneven.
5. Use the tons figure for a per-ton quote and the cubic yards figure for a per-yard quote. For a small hole, use the bag count, since a cubic yard takes 54 bags.
6. Type a price per ton from your quote to see the material cost. Labor, delivery and base work are not included.

Worked examples

Cubic yards of hot mix asphalt for driveway and parking pad sizes, by thickness

Cubic yards, exact volume without extra for waste.

How thick should a driveway be?

A Colorado asphalt association brief on driveways recommends, for an ordinary home driveway, a bottom course of 2 inches and a surface course of 1.5 inches. Local soil and traffic can call for more, so ask the paving contractor before you order. Some owners pour concrete for a parking pad instead, and the concrete slab calculator sizes that job.

Both courses sit on a crushed aggregate base of 6 to 8 inches, which spreads the load from the car over the soil. Order that base separately with the gravel calculator, using the same length and width.

Tons or cubic yards?

Compacted mix weighs about 149 lb per cubic foot, so a cubic yard comes to roughly 4,000 lb, or 2.01 tons. The tons figure in the calculator uses that same weight.

At the surface course thickness of 1.5 inches, a cubic yard covers 216 square feet. State DOT estimating factors use 106 to 115 lb per square yard per inch, so a quote built on that method should land close to the tons figure here.

Patching a pothole with cold patch

Each 50 lb cold patch bag yields 0.5 cu ft once compacted, so a cubic yard takes 54 bags. Clear out loose debris and square off the edges before you fill the hole.

Build the patch in compacted lifts of 1 to 3 inches, tamping each one before you add the next. A deep hole is filled in several lifts. Buy an extra bag if the hole is uneven, and follow the product label for placement.

Mistakes to avoid

• Entering the loose depth. Enter the compacted thickness. The roller packs the mix down, so the finished layer is thinner than the loose mix.
• Ordering from area alone. Square footage has no weight until you add the thickness, so measure each course first.
• Mixing up the units. Compare a per-ton quote with the tons figure and a per-yard quote with the cubic yards figure, because the two results are different numbers.
• Skipping the base. Check the base depth with your paving contractor and local building rules before you dig. Asphalt laid straight onto weak soil is more likely to crack and sink.

Hot mix, warm mix and cold mix: which one do I need?

Hot mix is delivered hot and rolled right away, and it is the standard choice for driveways and parking pads. Warm mix is made at lower temperatures but is paved much like hot mix, so use the tons figure the same way. Cold mix is bagged or bulk material for potholes and small repairs, so use the bag count for it.

Common questions