Gravel driveway calculator
Plan a gravel driveway layer by layer, with the tonnage and truckloads for each one.
Gravel driveway calculator
Plan a gravel driveway layer by layer, with the tonnage and truckloads for each one.
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.
Gravel driveway calculator
A driveway is not one layer
This is the difference between a driveway that lasts and one that ruts in the first wet winter. A gravel driveway is normally built up from a coarse sub base that carries the load and spreads it over soft ground, a binding layer over that, and a surface layer that is comfortable to drive and walk on. Each layer is a different material at a different depth with a different density, so calculating the whole thing as one average depth of one material gets the sub base badly wrong. This calculator works each layer separately and adds them up.
Choosing depths
The stack loaded here is a common starting point rather than a specification. What a driveway actually needs depends on the soil under it, how well the site drains, the climate, and what will be driving on it, and the difference between a car and a delivery truck is substantial. Soft or clay soils generally need a deeper sub base than firm ground does. For anything carrying real weight, or anything the local authority has an opinion about, check what your building department requires before ordering.
Ordering and delivery
Driveways are where the allowance earns its keep. Spreading and grading loses material at the edges, the ground is never as flat as it measured, and a compacted layer needs more material than its finished depth suggests because loose gravel settles. Fifteen percent is a reasonable allowance for a driveway. Open the delivery panel and enter your supplier's truck capacity to see how many loads that is: it is often cheaper to size the order to a whole number of loads than to pay for a part load.
Sequencing a gravel driveway build
A driveway is the clearest example on this site of why layer mode exists as its own calculation. Enter the footprint once, and the tool works out tonnage for a base course, a middle course if you are using one, and a surface course, because each of those layers typically uses a different material and a different compacted depth. That is a different job from an area calculator like the crushed stone calculator, which assumes one material at one depth, and it is worth using the driveway tool specifically rather than running three separate area calculations, since the layer order and the depth ratio between courses affects how the finished surface performs under vehicle weight. A driveway that gets the ratio wrong, too little base and too much surface stone, tends to look fine on the day it is finished and then rut within the first season of regular vehicle traffic.
The sequencing matters as much as the quantities. The base layer goes down first and gets compacted before anything else is added, because its job is to spread the load from vehicles over the native soil and to let water drain through rather than pool under the surface. Skipping compaction between layers, or laying the base and surface stone at the same time, is one of the more common reasons a gravel driveway ruts and pots after the first wet season, since an uncompacted base keeps shifting under the finer stone above it rather than holding it in place. The guide on driveway layers walks through why each course exists and what happens when one is left out.
Many driveways also go down over landscape fabric laid directly on the graded soil, before the base course. The fabric is not structural on its own, but it keeps the base stone from working its way down into the native soil over time and keeps soil from migrating up into the stone, which otherwise gradually turns a clean base into a muddy mix that compacts poorly. If you are unsure whether your soil needs it, heavier clay soils that hold water generally benefit from it more than fast draining sandy soil does, though a local contractor familiar with the soil in your area is a better source than a general rule. Grading the soil to shed water away from the driveway before any stone goes down matters just as much as the fabric decision, since a base course sitting in standing water will never compact properly no matter how carefully it is laid, and regrading after the fact means pulling stone back up rather than simply doing it first.
Crusher run is the material most driveway base courses use, because it is a graded mix of stone sizes down to fine particles that compacts into a dense, stable layer rather than staying loose like a single sized stone would. The guide on crusher run explains what that grading means and why it behaves differently from a clean, single size stone like pea gravel or a washed #57. If you are only ordering the surface layer because the base already exists from a previous project, the crushed stone calculator is a faster way to get that single course's tonnage without running the layered tool.
Once you have tonnage for each layer, the practical question becomes how many truckloads that turns into and what it costs delivered. Dump trucks have a maximum load weight rather than a fixed volume, so a large order often has to be split across more than one delivery, and the gravel calculator for tons is useful for checking that math on a single course in isolation. Run the total through the gravel cost calculator once you have a per ton quote from a supplier, since a driveway's combined base and surface tonnage is usually the largest single order on this site and the one where a delivery minimum or a multi load fee changes the total the most, so it is worth getting that quote before the project starts rather than midway through. It is also worth scheduling the base and surface deliveries on separate days rather than together, since the base needs to be spread and compacted before the surface stone arrives, and having both piles on site at once usually just means moving one of them out of the way twice.
Frequently asked questions
How many tons of gravel do I need for a driveway?
For a 60 by 10 foot driveway, a three layer build of 4 inches of sub base, 3 inches of base and 2 inches of surface stone comes to roughly 23.5 tons before any allowance, at typical densities. A single 4 inch layer over the same area would be about 10 tons. The gap between those two numbers is exactly why the layers matter. Enter your own dimensions above for the figure for your driveway.
What gravel is best for a driveway?
Most driveways use an angular crushed stone rather than a rounded one, because angular pieces lock together and stay put while rounded stones roll and scatter under tyres. Crusher run and similar dense graded materials are common for the base because the fines bind and compact. A cleaner washed stone such as #57 is common as a surface. What is available and what it is called varies enormously by region, so ask your local yard what they sell for driveways.
What is the best driveway gravel calculator?
One that accounts for the layered structure of a real driveway rather than a single average depth, since a driveway gravel calculator that treats sub base, base and surface as one layer will under order the sub base and over order the surface. This calculator works each layer separately using the presets above.
How many loads of gravel do I need for a driveway?
For a standard three-layer driveway on a 60 by 10 foot area, the total is roughly 23.5 tons before any allowance, at typical densities. At a five ton per load capacity, that works out to about five full loads. Enter your own driveway dimensions, layer depths and truck capacity above for the exact number of loads, since the truck capacity and the driveway size both change the answer significantly.
How thick should each layer of a gravel driveway be?
A common starting point is 4 inches of sub base, 3 inches of base and 2 inches of surface, though what the driveway actually needs depends on the soil underneath, the climate and what will be driving on it. Soft or clay soils generally need a deeper sub base than firm ground does. These are starting points rather than requirements, and anything carrying real weight should follow your local building department's requirements.
How much does it cost to gravel a driveway?
Cost depends on your local supplier's price per ton, the delivery fee and the volume needed. A 60 by 10 foot driveway at three layers needs roughly 23.5 tons before allowance, so the total is that tonnage multiplied by your price per ton plus delivery. Enter your own price and delivery fee in the cost panel above for the actual total, rather than guessing at a national average that would not match your area.
How long does a gravel driveway last?
A well-built gravel driveway with proper layers and drainage can last 10 to 15 years before needing significant replenishment, though the surface layer needs topping up every few years as material migrates and compacts. The sub base and base layers, if properly compacted and drained, last considerably longer. Regular grading and occasional additions of surface stone extend the life between full rebuilds.
Do I need landscape fabric under a gravel driveway?
Opinions vary, but landscape fabric under the sub base can help prevent the gravel from mixing with the soil below, especially on soft or clay ground. It does not add structural strength. On firm, well-drained soil, many driveways are built without it. The calculator focuses on gravel quantities rather than accessories, but fabric is worth considering if the underlying soil is prone to mixing.