Asphalt calculator

Multiply length by width by depth in feet to get cubic feet, multiply by 145 pounds per cubic foot (compacted hot mix), and divide by 2,000. A 40 by 12 foot driveway at 2.5 inches is 100 cubic feet, or 7.25 tons, so with 10 percent waste you would order 8 tons.

A residential driveway is usually 2 to 3 inches of compacted asphalt over a compacted gravel base. Overlays on sound pavement are usually 1.5 to 2 inches, and parking lots or areas with trucks usually take 4 inches or more.

About 80 square feet at 2 inches thick, about 65 at 2.5 inches and about 55 at 3 inches, using 145 pounds per cubic foot.

Some material is lost to spillage, uneven base and edges, and running short means a second delivery. Most crews add 5 to 10 percent.

Roughly 6 to 8 tons for a single-axle truck, 12 to 16 tons for a tandem and 18 to 22 tons for a tri-axle. Local weight limits vary, so check with your plant or hauler.

Multiply length by width in metres, then by the depth in metres, then by about 2.32 tonnes per cubic metre of compacted hot mix. A 12 by 3.6 metre driveway at 65 mm is 2.81 cubic metres, or about 6.5 tonnes; with 10% waste that rounds up to a 7.25 tonne order. At 65 mm, one tonne covers roughly 6.8 square metres. Switch the calculator to metres and mm to get tonnes directly.