Use the Road Base Calculator
Measure the footprint and enter a uniform target base depth. Select Rectangle, Known Area, Circle or Triangle. Optional extra covers your handling, grading variation or waste allowance. Enter density, lift planning, supplier increments and prices only when applicable. Starting fields are hypothetical geometry, not a material or depth recommendation.
Calculate road-base volume
Rectangle is length × width × target depth. Known Area is area × target depth. Circle is π × (diameter ÷ 2)² × target depth. Triangle is ½ × base × perpendicular height × target depth. All assume uniform depth. Project road-base volume includes the optional extra once; changing the lift plan never changes this requirement.
Cubic yards from area and depth
In Imperial, convert target inches to feet by dividing by 12. Multiply the footprint area in square feet by depth in feet to obtain cubic feet, then divide by 27 for cubic yards. In Metric, centimeters ÷ 100 gives meters and square meters × meters gives cubic meters. Exactly 1 yd³ = 0.764554857984 m³.
Estimate tons with your density
Project volume times your applicable bulk density gives estimated weight. Imperial uses US short tons, not metric tonnes; Metric uses kilograms per cubic meter and reports metric tonnes/kilograms. No Road Base, crusher-run or limestone density is supplied. Density varies with aggregate source, grading, moisture, void space and material condition. Depth and lift inputs never select density.
Plan installation lifts
A lift is one planned layer within the entered target depth. Lift planning is off initially. Enable it with your own planned thickness or number of lifts; all planning fields start blank. It divides depth conceptually without creating more material, changing allowance, assigning density or altering supplier requirements. BuiltTally calculates material geometry and user-planned lifts. It does not verify achieved density or compaction.
Planned thickness or number of lifts
Thickness mode divides target depth by your planned lift thickness and rounds the count upward. Full lifts use the entered thickness; the final lift retains the remainder and may be thinner. A thickness greater than target yields one lift at the target depth. Count mode divides target depth by your positive whole number of lifts to produce equal planned thickness. Neither method recommends a thickness/count or satisfies a specification by selection. Long schedules are summarized for software usability.
Volume and weight supplier orders
No supplier rounding is the default. Choose Volume increment and enter yd³/m³, or Mass increment and enter US short tons/metric tonnes with valid density. Only the selected basis rounds upward. Project requirement and recommended supplier order stay distinct. A mass order never creates a new geometric project volume. Optional volume and mass prices produce neutral independent estimates; recommended-order cost appears only for matching bases. Quotes are never added or ranked. Delivery, tax, equipment, grading, compaction labor, fuel, minimum loads and testing are excluded unless included in your entered quote.
Quantity and lift examples
Material example: 40 ft × 12 ft × 4 in. Depth = 4 ÷ 12 = ⅓ ft; volume = 40 × 12 × ⅓ = 160 ft³. Divide by 27 → 5.92593… yd³, displayed 5.93 yd³ with zero extra and no density. Four inches is an example input only.
Separate lift example: target depth 5 in; entered planned lift thickness 2 in. ceil(5 ÷ 2) = 3 lifts, scheduled 2 in + 2 in + 1 in. Target depth stays 5 in, rather than increasing to 6 in. This demonstrates lift-plan arithmetic only. It does not recommend a 2-inch lift for a particular material, compactor or specification.
Count example: user-entered target 6 in ÷ user-entered 3 lifts = 2 in per lift. This is equal division only, not a recommended layer or lift count.
Road Base, Aggregate and Gravel
Road Base owns base-course quantity and optional lift planning for one footprint. Aggregate Calculator combines several areas of one aggregate material; different materials need separate projects. Gravel Calculator keeps its generic gravel volume workflow with optional entered density; Road Base uses its own independent inputs. Cubic Yard Calculator handles material-neutral volume and Rock Calculator handles generic rock quantity.
This is not a crusher-run or crushed-limestone-specific tool, a road-construction manual, a field compaction model or a certified specification.
Road Base calculator FAQ
How much road base do I need?
Enter the measured footprint and your project's uniform target base depth. The calculator produces geometric volume and optional user-entered extra. It does not choose a suitable material or target depth.
How are cubic yards calculated?
Area in square feet × target depth in feet gives cubic feet. Divide by 27 for cubic yards. Depth in inches must first be divided by 12. Calculations retain full precision before display formatting.
How do I estimate tons?
Enter density appropriate to your material and condition. Project volume × density gives estimated weight. Imperial shows US short tons and pounds; Metric shows metric tonnes and kilograms. No universal road-base density is assumed.
What is a lift?
Here, a lift is one user-planned layer within the target depth. The schedule partitions that depth arithmetically; it is not a certified construction section or a verification of achieved field density.
Does the calculator recommend lift thickness?
No. Thickness and count start blank. Enter your own project planning value. The calculator does not determine compliance with compaction requirements, DOT specifications, engineering specifications or local codes.
Does lift planning change how much material I need?
No. Switching lift methods or changing their inputs preserves geometric volume, allowance, project volume, density, estimated weight and supplier requirements. An invalid lift plan suppresses only its plan while valid material results remain available.
Can suppliers quote road base by volume or weight?
Enter the applicable volume and/or mass quote. Mass pricing needs valid density. Estimates stay independent and are never summed or ranked; a recommended-order estimate needs matching rounding and pricing bases.
What's the difference between Road Base and Aggregate calculators?
Road Base owns single-footprint base-course quantity with optional user-planned lifts. Aggregate owns generic one-material multi-section takeoff. For separate areas, calculate Road Base projects separately or use Aggregate for combined takeoff.
Does BuiltTally calculate compaction?
No. Extra is not a compaction model and lifts do not verify compaction. No compaction percentage, Proctor value, shrink/swell factor, rolling-pass count, moisture target or engineering approval is inferred.