Asphalt Tonnage Calculator
Hot-mix asphalt by the ton from area and compacted thickness, with the unit weight editable because the real one comes from the mix design.
Hot-mix asphalt by the ton from area and compacted thickness, with the unit weight left editable because the right one comes from the mix design, not from a website.
| Area | — |
|---|---|
| Compacted volume | — |
| Weight, net | — |
| Order with waste | — |
145 pounds per cubic foot is a placeholder, and the page says so. Compacted hot‑mix asphalt is sold by the ton and laid by the cubic foot, and the number that joins the two is the mix’s compacted density. That is a property of the specific mix — aggregate gravity, binder content, air voids after rolling — and it is measured on the job (AASHTO T 166 bulk specific gravity, or a nuclear gauge), not looked up. 145 lb/ft³ (about 2,320 kg/m³) is the figure most estimating tables carry and is close for dense‑graded mixes; a supplier will quote theirs, and that is the one to type in.
Thickness means compacted thickness. Loose mix behind the paver sits roughly a quarter thicker than it will after rolling; the tonnage that matters is the compacted mat, so enter the finished depth. If a spec reads “2 inches compacted,” that is the number, not the loose depth the screed is set to.
An irregular lot is several rectangles. The page takes one length and one width; a driveway with a flare at the street or a parking area with a cut‑out corner is two or three of them added up, and the flare is the part people forget. Measure the finished edge, not the base course — the base is usually wider than the mat that goes on it, and the extra is not asphalt.
Asphalt is bought by weight because volume is not what leaves the plant. The truck is weighed loaded and empty, and the ticket is the difference. So a quote in square feet or yards has been converted at some density already, and if that density is not on the quote you cannot check it. Ask for the compacted unit weight and the thickness together; with those two, the ticket and this page agree or they do not, and you know which.
The ton here is the short ton. 2,000 pounds, which is how U.S. plants sell. Switch to metric and the same order is printed in tonnes (1,000 kg); the two differ by about 10%, which is exactly the kind of gap that turns up short on the last truck.
Tons = area × thickness × unit weight ÷ 2,000. Volume is area × compacted thickness; the default unit weight of 145 lb/ft³ is a common estimating figure for compacted dense‑graded HMA and is not a specification — the mix design or the supplier gives the actual density (AASHTO T 166). Waste is applied to the ordered weight only.