Free Calculator · Published November 2026
Pea Gravel Calculator for Yards and Tons
A pea gravel calculator turns length, width, and depth into cubic feet, then divides by 27. A 10 by 20 foot area at 2 inches is 33.333 cubic feet and 1.235 cubic yards. Tons wait on the unit weight you leave in the box. The box starts at 115 pounds per cubic foot.
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Book a DemoHow the Pea Gravel Calculator Uses Table 5-17
Volume does not need a density. Weight does. Short tons are pounds divided by 2,000. Bags need a bag weight you type.
115 is the low end of compacted dry GP gravel on Table 5-17, not a loose pea-gravel ticket. Replace it when the supplier prints a weight.
33.333 cubic feet = 1.235 cubic yards. 3833.3 pounds = 1.917 short tons. That is 1.5525 short tons per cubic yard at 115 lb/cu ft.
All calculations are estimates based on historical information and should be verified by the user.
Important: 115 is a compacted range end
All calculations are estimates based on historical information and should be verified by the user. This tool is provided as a free service for planning purposes only and is not a substitute for a professional assessment, a supplier quote, or applicable local code requirements.
What This Pea Gravel Calculator Is Not
Pea gravel is a retail name for small rounded stone. It is not a line on FHWA Table 5-17. The closest class on that table is poorly graded, clean gravel, marked GP. The compacted dry unit weight on that row is 115 to 125 pounds per cubic foot. A loose pile and a wet pile are not that compacted dry range. The gravel calculator is the broader stone page. Landscape rock that stays in yards, without this weight, is the stone calculator. Plain volume, with no unit weight at all, is the cubic yard calculator.
The gravel rows that were fetched
Table 5-17 is titled typical compacted densities. The citation in the table note is Carter and Bentley, 1991. The four gravel and gravel-sand rows are below. Dry compacted is not the same as the weight on a delivery ticket. This page lets you type over 115 for that reason.
| Table 5-17 description | USCS | Compacted dry lb/ft³ |
|---|---|---|
| Well-graded, clean | GW | 125–134 |
| Poorly graded, clean | GP | 115–125 |
| Well-graded, small silt content | GM | 119–134 |
| Well-graded, small clay content | GC | 115–125 |
Worked example at 115
Length 10 feet, width 20 feet, depth 2 inches. Cubic feet are 10 × 20 × 2 ÷ 12 = 33.333 at three decimals. Cubic yards are that figure divided by 27, 1.235 at three decimals. At 115 pounds per cubic foot the weight is 3833.3 pounds, which is 1.917 short tons. The same 115 times 27 divided by 2,000 is 1.5525 short tons per cubic yard. The high end of the GP row, 125, would be 1.6875 short tons per cubic yard. Neither number is a loose pea-gravel density. Two inches is the example depth, not a depth the table prints.
How should you write the order?
- Length, width, and the depth you actually want, in the units on the boxes.
- Cubic yards at three decimals, before any weight.
- The unit weight you used, and whether it was 115, another Table 5-17 end, or a supplier ticket.
- Short tons from that weight. Leave tons off the order if you have no weight.
- Bag count only if you typed pounds per bag. Say that the whole-bag figure is rounded up.
- A note that Table 5-9 has no gravel row, so the sand page's 99 was not borrowed.
Bedding sand stays on its own page
Loose, dry, well-graded sand at 99 pounds per cubic foot is the sand calculator. That 99 is a natural-state row. It is not a pea gravel weight, and this page does not mix the two tables. Soil for a bed is the soil calculator.
Loose Piles Are Not the Compacted Row
Table 5-17 is a compacted dry unit weight. A yard of stone in a truck is loose, and it may be wet. Both of those conditions sit outside the row. The low end, 115 pounds per cubic foot, is only the bottom of the poorly graded clean gravel range. The high end of that same row is 125. Well-graded clean gravel on the GW row is 125 to 134. None of those four numbers is a delivery ticket, and none of them is named pea gravel.
Use the yards first. Cubic yards do not need a density, so the area math can go on the order before anyone agrees a weight. Tons come second, and only after the unit weight in the box is one you are willing to stand behind. If the supplier prints pounds per cubic yard, divide by 27 and type that. If the supplier prints short tons per cubic yard, multiply by 2,000 and divide by 27. That arithmetic is the override. It is not a second table.
Bags are the same idea. The table does not print a bag weight, so the bag box starts empty. Type the pounds on the bag you will actually buy. The line then divides total pounds by that bag weight and rounds up, because a store sells a whole bag. Rounding up is not a coverage rule and it is not a waste percent. If you also want extra for a messy edge, add it yourself in the depth or in the length. Do not pretend the round-up was the extra.
Depth is an input for the same reason. Two inches is the example so the division by 12 is visible. The fetched table does not say a path is two inches or a trench is four. A landscape plan that names a depth is the depth you type. A plan that does not name one is not answered by this page. Table 5-9, on the same FHWA chapter, lists natural-state sands and clays and does not list gravel, which is why the sand page's 99 pounds per cubic foot is not reused here.
Frequently Asked Questions
How do you turn the area into cubic yards?
Multiply length in feet by width in feet by depth in inches, divide by 12 for cubic feet, then divide by 27 for cubic yards. A 10 by 20 foot area at 2 inches is 33.333 cubic feet and 1.235 cubic yards at three decimals. The 2 inch depth is the example input. Table 5-17 does not recommend a depth.
What density does the box start with?
The box starts at 115 pounds per cubic foot, the low end of the compacted dry range for poorly graded clean gravel, USCS class GP, on FHWA Table 5-17. The high end of that row is 125. Pea gravel is a retail name and is not a row on the table. Replace 115 with the supplier ticket. This page does not use 1.4 tons per cubic yard.
How are bags counted?
Bags equal total pounds divided by the pounds per bag you type. No bag weight is assumed. If the bag box is empty, the bag line stays blank. Rounding up is only so a whole bag can be ordered. It is not a coverage rule from the table.
Is the pea gravel calculator the gravel page?
No. The gravel calculator is a separate page. This pea gravel calculator shows yards from the area, then tons only from the unit weight left in the box, starting from the FHWA GP range. It does not copy a tons-per-yard figure from the gravel page.
Save the Yard and Ton Line
The yards, the unit weight you actually used, and the short tons belong on the job record.
Get a Free DemoAll calculations are estimates based on historical information and should be verified by the user. This tool is provided as a free service for planning purposes only and is not a substitute for a professional assessment, a supplier quote, or applicable local code requirements.