3/4 gravel calculator

This page runs the same area based math as most of the driveway and patio calculators here: a footprint, a depth, and a density conversion to get weight. That is the right shape of calculation for 3/4 gravel because it is almost always laid as a flat, consistent layer rather than used to fill an irregular hole or a stepped excavation. If your project is actually a narrow excavated channel rather than an open area, a calculator built around a trench cross section will track the volume more accurately than multiplying a rough length by a rough width, since a trench rarely has a uniform depth along its whole run the way a flat pad does. Area mode also assumes a single depth across the whole footprint, so if a driveway tapers thinner toward the street than it is near the garage, it is worth splitting the run into two sections and running each separately rather than averaging a depth that does not hold true along the full length.

The thing that separates 3/4 gravel from a rounded stone like pea gravel is shape, not just size, and shape is what decides whether it is the right pick for a given layer. Angular fragments wedge against each other under a compactor and resist shifting sideways under a tire or a footstep, which is exactly what a driveway base or a drainage layer needs. A rounded stone compacts far less and stays loose, which is fine underfoot on a path but wrong under a load bearing layer. This comparison of pea gravel and crushed stone goes through the tradeoff in more detail if you are deciding between the two for a surface layer rather than a base, and it is worth reading before you settle on a look for a visible top layer rather than a hidden base course.

3/4 gravel sits close to #57 in most regional gradings, close enough that some suppliers use the terms almost interchangeably, so it is worth checking your supplier's actual spec sheet rather than assuming the number and the inch size are identical everywhere. The #57 gravel calculator uses the same density assumption if that is the number your supplier quotes instead, and the crushed stone calculator covers the wider family of angular stone sizes if you are still narrowing down which one your project actually calls for. For drainage specifically, the dedicated drainage gravel calculator is built around pipe bedding and French drain depths rather than a driveway's flat footprint, and it is worth using instead of this page once the job stops being a flat area and starts being a trench around a pipe.

Clean 3/4 gravel, washed and free of fines, drains faster and compacts into a slightly looser mass than the same stone sold with fines still in it, which pack the gaps between stones and lock the layer tighter at the cost of some drainage. Whichever version you are ordering, bulk delivery is the economical choice once the job passes a ton or so; this breakdown of bulk versus bagged pricing walks through where that crossover tends to land and why delivery fees are the variable that moves it. Ask your supplier directly which version a load contains if the spec matters to your project, since clean and with fines are not always labeled clearly on a delivery ticket, and the difference matters more for a drainage layer than for a simple decorative path where either version will look and perform about the same.

If 3/4 gravel is going under a driveway rather than standing alone as the finished surface, build it as part of a full driveway cross section rather than guessing a single depth: a sub base, this layer as a compacted base course, and a topcoat sized separately. The gravel driveway calculator walks through that full stack, and the gravel calculator for tons is there if you would rather see this page's output in tons directly instead of converting from cubic yards afterward. Keeping each layer's quantity separate on paper, rather than one combined total, also makes it far easier to reorder just the layer that runs short partway through the job, which happens more often than people expect once a compactor is run over a freshly placed lift and it settles lower than planned.