How Much Asphalt for a 12x50 Driveway?
Asphalt needed
10.88 tons
600 square feet at 3 inches of compacted hot mix, at 145 pounds per cubic foot.
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How that number is worked out
These are the figures this page was built with and every line the calculator produces from them. Change anything above and all of it moves.
- Length50 ft
- Width12 ft
- Compacted thickness3 in
- Density145 lb per cu ft
Asphalt needed10.88 tons
| Area | 600 sq ft |
|---|---|
| Compacted volume | 150 cu ft |
| Weight | 21,750 lb |
| Tons | 10.88order to the next quarter ton |
| Order | 11 tons |
| Base stone at 4 in, tons | 10 |
The material list this produces
| Hot mix asphalt, tons | 11 |
|---|---|
| Crushed base stone, tons | 10 |
| Tack coat, gallons | 2 |
Compacted thickness compared
Thickness is the one number that moves the tonnage in a straight line. Two inches is a light residential overlay, six is commercial.
| Compacted thickness | Asphalt needed | Base stone at 4 in, tons |
|---|---|---|
| 2 in | 7.25 tons | 10 |
| 3 in | 10.88 tons | 10 |
| 4 in | 14.5 tons | 10 |
| 6 in | 21.75 tons | 10 |
What else matters here
Twelve by fifty is a normal suburban driveway, one car wide and long enough to park two. At three inches compacted it takes 10.88 tons, which you would order as 11.
Twelve feet is the width to hold on to. Anything narrower and a car parked on it has a wheel on the grass within a year, and the edge of an asphalt driveway is the part that fails first because it has nothing holding it sideways.
Under this is about 10 tons of crushed stone at four inches, compacted in lifts rather than dumped and levelled. A base that was never properly compacted settles unevenly, and the asphalt cracks along the line where the settlement stops.
What this calculator assumes
- Hot mix asphalt runs about 145 lb per compacted cubic foot, which is roughly 2 tons per cubic yard. Mixes vary, so ask your plant for theirs.
- This is compacted thickness. Laid loose it is about 25 percent thicker before rolling.
- A residential driveway is usually 2 to 3 inches over a 4 to 6 inch compacted base. Skimping on the base is what cracks a driveway, not the asphalt.
Questions people ask
How many tons of asphalt for a 12x50 driveway?
10.88 tons at 3 inches compacted. Order 11.
How thick should the base be?
Four to six inches of compacted crushed stone under a residential driveway, more on soft ground or where trucks turn. Base failure is what cracks a driveway. Adding asphalt thickness over a thin base does not fix it.
Why is asphalt sold by the ton?
Because the plant loads it by weight. Hot mix runs about 145 pounds per compacted cubic foot, roughly 2 tons a cubic yard, so the calculator converts your area and thickness to volume and then to weight. Ask your plant for their density if you want it exact.
The asphalt calculator takes any dimensions you like and hands back the same list.