How Many Tons Is a 4-Inch Gravel Base?

Four inches of gravel under 1,000 square feet is about 12.3 cubic yards and about 17 tons at 1.4 tons per cubic yard. Use that as a planning figure for light cars on firm soil. It is not a design for trucks or for clay that pumps. The quarry ticket is the real weight.

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The thinner block under 1,000 square feet

Four inches is one-third of a foot. On 1,000 square feet, the volume is 1,000 times one-third, divided by 27. That is about 333 cubic feet divided by 27, or about 12.3 cubic yards. At about 1.4 tons per cubic yard, 12.3 times 1.4 is about 17.2, stated as about 17 tons. Compared with a six-inch base on the same area, which is about 26 tons, the four-inch section is about two-thirds of the stone because four is two-thirds of six. The small gap between a perfect two-thirds of 26 and the rounded 17 is rounding, not a second product. These are planning estimates. The quarry ticket is the real weight. If you only have 500 square feet, take half, about 8.5 tons, or recompute from the real area.

A light-car planning figure, not a truck section

Say a 4-inch base is a planning figure for light cars on firm soil. It is not a design for trucks, and it is not a design for clay that pumps under the stone. Those sites need a section chosen on the ground, which may be thicker, and this page will not turn four inches into a code. The asphalt thickness is a separate choice figured at 145 pounds per cubic foot. A thin stone layer under a thick mat is still a thin stone layer. If the soil is wet, a separation fabric may be part of the conversation so fines do not pump into the rock. Fabric does not add the inches you skipped. Order the stone depth you are actually going to compact.

Check the finished fourth of a foot

Four inches after compaction is the depth that matches the 17 tons. A loose four-inch rake-out will finish thinner, and the asphalt will follow that low grade. Compact in a lift your machine can reach. On a small pad, one four-inch loose lift may be within what a plate can densify. A deeper pile is not. Ask the quarry whether their stone is near 1.4 tons per cubic yard. If they say otherwise, multiply the 12.3 cubic yards by their factor. Include extra width if the base sticks out past the asphalt, because that stone is part of the order. After the trucks leave, the ticket total is what you bought, and a tape on the compacted grade shows whether you built four inches.

A practical sequence

Convert four inches to one-third of a foot.
For 1,000 square feet, plan about 12.3 cubic yards.
Multiply by about 1.4 to get about 17 tons as a planning estimate.
Use four inches for light cars on firm soil, and confirm weight on the quarry ticket.

The mistake to skip

Using a four-inch gravel figure under trucks or on clay that pumps.

Questions people ask

How many tons is a 4-inch base under 1,000 square feet?

About 17 tons. The volume is about 12.3 cubic yards, and 12.3 times about 1.4 tons per yard is about 17. That is a planning estimate for finished thickness. The quarry ticket is the real weight. Half the area is about half the tons if the depth stays four inches.

Is four inches enough gravel?

Only as a planning figure for light cars on firm soil. It is not a design for trucks or for clay that moves. The calculator converts the depth you chose. It does not prove the depth is right. Someone who sees the soil should set the section.

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