#57 gravel calculator
Work out how much #57 stone a driveway, drainage layer or concrete base needs, in tons, cubic yards or truckloads.
#57 gravel calculator
Work out how much #57 stone a driveway, drainage layer or concrete base needs, in tons, cubic yards or truckloads.
Enter your dimensions to see how much gravel you need.
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Results are estimates for planning. Bulk density varies by supplier, moisture and how much the material is compacted, so confirm quantities with your supplier before ordering.
#57 gravel calculator
What #57 stone actually is
A washed crushed stone with pieces roughly 3/8 inch to 1 inch across, screened to sit between the smaller #67 grade and the larger #4. It is the most commonly requested gravel in the United States because the size range packs firm underfoot yet still drains freely, which is why it turns up as a driveway surface, a French drain fill and the coarse aggregate in concrete on the same site.
How much a ton covers
At the 1.4 tons per cubic yard this page uses by default, one ton of #57 spreads to about 116 square feet at 2 inches deep, 77 square feet at 3 inches, or 58 square feet at 4 inches. Coverage is inversely proportional to depth: doubling the depth halves the area a ton reaches. If your supplier quotes a different density, edit the figure and every result on the page updates.
Why the tonnage is not a spec
Densities move with quarry, moisture and compaction. A wet load off a truck weighs more per cubic yard than a dry, freshly screened pile, and once the driveway is rolled the loose delivered volume shrinks by roughly a fifth. Order by tons for accuracy on the invoice, and by cubic yards for accuracy on the spread; the calculator shows both so the two do not get mixed up.
Ordering #57 stone for a project
This calculator runs in area mode: you give it a length and width, a depth, and it multiplies the two to get a volume, then converts that volume to weight using the density of #57 stone. That is the right approach for a driveway, a drainage layer under a patio or a base course under concrete, because all three are defined by a flat footprint and a consistent depth rather than by a hole or a stepped layer. If your project instead has varying depth along its length, a trench style calculator will track the volume more accurately than multiplying a single rough length by a single rough width, since averaging an uneven depth across a long run tends to understate the deepest sections and overstate the shallow ones.
Area mode is only as accurate as the depth you enter, and depth is the number worth double checking before you order rather than after. A driveway base and a decorative drainage strip are not laid to the same depth, and the right depth for your project depends on what is underneath it and what sits on top, not on a single rule that applies everywhere. Measure the actual area with a tape rather than pacing it out, since a rough estimate on a large driveway compounds into a meaningful error in tons once it is multiplied by depth and density. On an irregular shaped driveway or pad, break it into two or three rectangles and sum the results rather than trying to force one length and width over the whole footprint.
#57 is one of several angular crushed stones this site covers, and picking the wrong one mostly costs you performance rather than money. The crushed stone calculator covers the broader family if you are not sure #57 is the right grade for your job, and the 3/4 gravel calculator is worth checking against if your supplier quotes by nominal size rather than a number designation, since #57 and 3/4 inch stone overlap closely in most regional gradings. If your project is a concrete pour rather than a standalone base layer, the sand and gravel calculator handles the aggregate and sand sides of a mix together, which is worth using instead of running this page twice for the coarse and fine portions of the same pour. The number designation itself is a grading standard rather than a brand, so you should expect the same #57 size from any supplier in a given region even if the stone's color and parent rock differ noticeably from one quarry to the next.
Ordering by the ton rather than by the bag is standard for #57 once a job needs more than a few hundred pounds, since bagged crushed stone carries a much higher price per ton and most suppliers deliver bulk for less than the cost of enough bags to match it. If you would rather see the number as tons outright, the gravel calculator for tons gives you that unit directly instead of converting from cubic yards after the fact. For a driveway where the delivery truck cannot reach the full length, plan where the stone gets dumped and how far it has to be moved by wheelbarrow or machine, since that detail changes the labor more than the quantity does, and a long carry from the drop point to the far end of a driveway can double the time the job takes even though the tonnage stays the same.
Delivery is usually priced by the truckload rather than by the ton once you are ordering enough of it, so it is worth checking your total against what a typical load actually carries before you call it in; this guide to dump truck capacity walks through how that scales with truck size. If the total comes out oddly large or small for the area you measured, it is worth sanity checking the conversion itself, which this explainer on tons per cubic yard covers in more detail than fits on a calculator page. Getting the truckload count right ahead of time also helps you plan access and timing, since a single oversized load showing up to a site with a tight turning radius is a harder problem to solve on the day than splitting the order into two smaller deliveries in advance. It is also worth asking the supplier how they measure a load, since some quote by weight and others by a nominal volume per truck, and the two are not always perfectly consistent from one delivery to the next.
Frequently asked questions
How much does a cubic yard of #57 stone weigh?
About 1.4 tons, or roughly 2800 pounds, at the density most suppliers quote. Wet material and freshly compacted material both weigh more, and a light lava-based crushed stone weighs less; the calculator lets you enter the density your supplier gives you for the load you are actually buying.
How many tons of #57 gravel do I need for a driveway?
It depends on the length, width and depth. For a typical 20 by 40 foot single car driveway at 4 inches of #57 as a top layer, the bare need is about 4.1 tons, or roughly 4.5 tons once a ten percent overage is added. A layered driveway with #57 only on the surface uses less; the gravel driveway calculator handles the full stack.
What is #57 gravel used for?
Driveway surfaces, drainage fill in French drains and behind retaining walls, the coarse aggregate in ready mix and hand mixed concrete, and as a base under pavers or slabs. Its open grading drains water without holding it against the sub grade, which is why builders reach for it in both structural and drainage roles.
How deep should a #57 stone driveway be?
Most driveway builds run #57 as a 2 to 3 inch surface layer over a compacted crusher run base, not as the full depth. Laying #57 several inches deep on soft ground makes a loose, rutted surface because the stones do not lock together. Use it thin over a base, or use crusher run for the base itself.
What is the difference between #57 and #67 gravel?
#67 is a slightly smaller grade, running about 3/8 to 3/4 inch versus #57's 3/8 to 1 inch. In practice they interchange for many uses, but #67 packs firmer for pathways and locks a little better under pavers, while #57 drains a shade faster.
Can I mix concrete with #57 stone?
Yes. #57 is a common coarse aggregate in general purpose concrete, mixed with sharp sand and cement at roughly a 1:2:3 ratio by volume. For a full slab estimate, run the concrete slab calculator; for the aggregate side alone, this page returns tons and cubic yards.
How much #57 gravel fits in a dump truck?
A single axle truck typically carries 5 to 7 tons of #57, a tandem axle 10 to 15 tons, but the limit is usually legal axle weight rather than body volume. Ask your supplier the weight their trucks carry and enter that into the trucks panel for an accurate load count.
Is #57 stone the same as 3/4 gravel?
They overlap but are not identical. 3/4 gravel is a size description covering any crushed stone with pieces up to about 3/4 inch, while #57 is a graded product with pieces from about 3/8 up to 1 inch. Suppliers often sell 3/4 stone and #57 as near substitutes, at similar densities.