Asphalt Calculator
Tons of hot mix for paving, a quick check on a contractor's quote, and cold patch bags for the potholes you fix yourself.
Quick answer
A ton of hot mix asphalt covers about 82 sq ft at 2 inches compacted, or 55 sq ft at 3 inches. A 50 x 10 ft driveway paved 3 inches thick takes about 9.2 tons, or 9.6 with 5 percent extra.
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Thickness
5% for uneven base and edges
Thickness is measured after rolling. The 3 in and full-depth presets are minimums from the Colorado Asphalt Pavement Association for home driveways.
Adds a frost-depth reminder and goes into your copied quote request.
9.6 tons of hot mix asphalt.
You need about
9.6tons of hot mix
9.3 to 10.1 tons depending on the mix · 4.86 cu yd compacted
500 sq ft at 3 in compacted, including 5% extra. That is about 330 lb per square yard, and one ton covers roughly 55 sq ft at this thickness.
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Why there is no truck check here
What pros know
- There is no such thing as leftover asphalt. The Colorado Asphalt Pavement Association warns homeowners not to deal with door-to-door crews offering a cheap driveway from a "leftover" load. Source
- Hot mix has to be spread and rolled while it is hot. Thin layers on a cool base can be past rolling in 10 to 20 minutes, which is why paving is one continuous job for a crew with a paver. Source
- Get the compacted thickness, material, base, and drainage written into the contract. Thickness is what sets the tons, so it is what a cheap quote quietly trims. Source
- Slope the surface at least 1/4 inch per foot so water runs off instead of soaking the base. Source
- Wait until a new driveway is several months old before sealing it, then seal every 2 to 5 years. Source
Ready to text or email your supplier:
“Quote request: asphalt paving, 500 sq ft at 3 in compacted, about 9.6 tons of hot mix. Please list the compacted thickness, base, and drainage in the quote.”
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How asphalt tonnage is worked out
Asphalt plants sell hot mix by the ton, but you measure a driveway in feet and inches. The math is: square feet x compacted thickness in feet, divided by 27 for cubic yards, times the weight of a cubic yard, divided by 2,000 for tons.
Compacted hot mix weighs about 3,816 to 4,140 lb per cubic yard, roughly 2 tons. Tennessee's DOT, for example, uses 106 lb per square yard per inch for its surface mix and 110 to 115 for base mixes. The calculator uses 110 as the typical value and shows the range, because the exact number depends on the plant's mix. Use the thickness after rolling, which is what a quote should specify.
How far a ton of asphalt goes
| Thickness | Lb per sq yd | 1 ton covers | Tons per 100 sq ft | 50 x 10 ft drive |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1.5 in | 165 | 109 sq ft | 0.92 | 4.6 tons |
| 2 in | 220 | 82 sq ft | 1.22 | 6.1 tons |
| 2.5 in | 275 | 65 sq ft | 1.53 | 7.6 tons |
| 3 in | 330 | 55 sq ft | 1.83 | 9.2 tons |
| 4 in | 440 | 41 sq ft | 2.44 | 12.2 tons |
| 4.5 in | 495 | 36 sq ft | 2.75 | 13.8 tons |
| 5.5 in | 605 | 30 sq ft | 3.36 | 16.8 tons |
How thick should asphalt be?
| Soil under the driveway | Full-depth asphalt | Asphalt over base | Stone base |
|---|---|---|---|
| Poor | 5.5 in | 3 in | 6 in |
| Fair | 4.5 in | 3 in | 4 in |
| Good | 4.5 in | 3 in | 4 in |
Those are minimums for cars and light trucks plus the occasional delivery truck. An overlay on an existing, sound driveway is typically 1.5 to 2 inches of surface mix, after weak spots and big cracks are cut out and patched. Heavier vehicles, RVs, and soft ground call for more. For the full build with dig-out and base stone, use the asphalt driveway calculator.
Checking a paving quote
The Colorado Asphalt Pavement Association puts it plainly: there is no such thing as leftover asphalt. A crew at the door with a truck of “extra” hot mix and a cash price is a well-known scam. Get more than one written quote from contractors you can check, and make sure each one lists the dimensions, the compacted thickness of every layer, the materials, drainage, start and finish dates, and a written warranty.
Thickness is where quotes quietly differ. Going from 2 to 3 inches is 50 percent more asphalt, so two quotes for “a new driveway” can be for very different amounts of material. Put the quote total into the calculator and it shows the price per square foot and per ton, so you can compare them on the same terms.
Potholes: how much cold patch
Cold patch is the asphalt you can fix yourself. QUIKRETE's data sheet says one 50 lb bag yields about 0.5 cubic feet once compacted, about 6 square feet at 1 inch deep. It goes in at 1 to 3 inches, in compacted layers of about 1 inch, overfilled 0.5 inch and tamped level. They also limit one repair to about 3 x 3 ft.
Example: a 2 x 2 ft pothole 2 inches deep is 0.67 cubic feet, so 2 bags with 10 percent extra. Deeper holes get compacted gravel in the bottom first. Switch the calculator to Potholes to count bags for yours.
Can you haul asphalt yourself?
Not hot mix. It has to be spread and rolled while it is hot, and the Colorado Asphalt Pavement Association notes that thin layers can cool past rolling in 10 to 20 minutes. It goes from the plant to your driveway in the paving crew's trucks.
What you can haul: cold patch bags (50 lb each, so 20 bags is half a ton in your vehicle) and asphalt millings, the recycled asphalt many people use for a cheaper driveway. Millings are heavy, so that page checks the load against your truck's payload.
What pros know
- There is no such thing as leftover asphalt. The Colorado Asphalt Pavement Association warns homeowners not to deal with door-to-door crews offering a cheap driveway from a "leftover" load. (Colorado Asphalt Pavement Association)
- Hot mix has to be spread and rolled while it is hot. Thin layers on a cool base can be past rolling in 10 to 20 minutes, which is why paving is one continuous job for a crew with a paver. (Colorado Asphalt Pavement Association)
- Get the compacted thickness, material, base, and drainage written into the contract. Thickness is what sets the tons, so it is what a cheap quote quietly trims. (Colorado Asphalt Pavement Association)
- Slope the surface at least 1/4 inch per foot so water runs off instead of soaking the base. (Colorado Asphalt Pavement Association)
- Wait until a new driveway is several months old before sealing it, then seal every 2 to 5 years. (Colorado Asphalt Pavement Association)
Common mistakes
- Using the loose depth instead of the compacted thickness. Quotes and tons are based on thickness after rolling.
- Comparing quotes that name different thicknesses. One extra inch on a 3 in drive is a third more asphalt.
- Saying yes to a door-to-door crew with leftover asphalt.
- Patching potholes with less than 1 inch of cold patch, or filling a deep hole all at once without tamping each layer.
- Sealing a new driveway in its first few months.
Questions people ask
How many tons of asphalt do I need?
Multiply the area in square feet by the compacted thickness in feet, divide by 27 for cubic yards, then multiply by about 1.98 tons per yard. A 50 x 10 ft driveway at 3 inches is about 9.2 tons before extra for waste.
How much does a ton of asphalt cover?
About 82 sq ft at 2 inches compacted, 55 sq ft at 3 inches, and less as it gets thicker. The exact figure depends on the mix.
How much does a cubic yard of asphalt weigh?
Compacted hot mix weighs about 3,816 to 4,140 lb per cubic yard, roughly 2 tons. That is about 106 to 115 lb per square yard for every inch of thickness.
How thick should an asphalt driveway be?
The Colorado Asphalt Pavement Association's minimum for a home driveway is 3 inches of asphalt over 4 to 6 inches of stone base, or 4.5 to 5.5 inches of full-depth asphalt, depending on the soil. Overlays are typically 1.5 to 2 inches.
How many bags of cold patch do I need?
Work out the hole's volume in cubic feet and divide by about 0.5 cu ft per 50 lb bag (QUIKRETE's compacted yield). One bag covers about 6 sq ft at 1 inch deep. Add 10 percent for irregular holes.
Can I pave my own driveway with asphalt?
Not with hot mix, realistically. It needs a paver and a roller and has to be placed and compacted while hot, as one continuous job. Homeowners can patch potholes with cold patch and build a driveway from asphalt millings.
Sources
- Tennessee DOT, Design Guidelines 4-307 and 4-411, Tables 4-1 and 4-2 (hot mix asphalt density: 3,816 to 4,140 lb per cubic yard, 106 to 115 lb per square yard per inch)
- Colorado Asphalt Pavement Association, Technical Brief: Asphalt Driveways (March 2020), minimum thickness designs, drainage, overlays, and homeowner tips
- QUIKRETE, Asphalt Cold Patch (No. 1701-58) data sheet: 50 lb bag yields about 0.5 cu ft compacted, about 6 sq ft at 1 in
Last reviewed: . How we calculate
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