How Much Road Base for a 50 Foot Driveway?
How much road base for a 50 foot driveway: about 11.1 tons for a 12-foot-wide lane at 4 inches deep. That is 600 square feet and 7.41 cubic yards.
Volume and tonnage calculator →The math
- Area: 600.0 sq ft.
- Depth in feet: 4 ÷ 12 = 0.333 ft.
- Cubic yards: 600.0 × 0.333 ÷ 27 = 7.41 yd³.
- Tons: × about 1.5 tons per yard = 11.1 tons.
The crushed stone calculator does this for any size.
Related: How Much Gravel for a 50 Foot Driveway?
Road base needed by depth
| Depth | Cubic yards | Tons of road base | Tons +10% |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2 in | 3.70 | 5.6 | 6.1 |
| 4 in | 7.41 | 11.1 | 12.2 |
| 6 in | 11.11 | 16.7 | 18.3 |
| 8 in | 14.81 | 22.2 | 24.4 |
Tons by driveway width
| Width | Tons at 4 in | Tons at 6 in |
|---|---|---|
| 10 ft | 9.3 | 13.9 |
| 12 ft | 11.1 | 16.7 |
| 14 ft | 13.0 | 19.4 |
| 16 ft | 14.8 | 22.2 |
Related: How Much Does 50 Tons of Road Base Cover?
Truck loads
With about 10 percent extra, this is 12.2 tons, roughly 1 load if the yard runs 15-ton trucks. Ask the driver to tailgate-spread it along the drive to save hours of raking.
Base and top layer
If this is a new driveway on soil, build a base of 4 to 6 inches of coarse stone first and finish with a packable surface stone. For a refresh, 2 inches over the old surface is common. Add culverts or ditches where water crosses the drive.
Buying the stone
If you haul it yourself, a typical half-ton pickup should carry only about half a cubic yard of stone, well under what the bed looks like it can hold. Road base is a graded stone-and-fines mix built to compact into a load-bearing layer. The scale ticket is the real weight; tons per yard here is a planning figure.
Questions people ask
How many tons of road base for a 50 ft driveway?
About 11.1 tons at 12 ft wide and 4 inches deep.
How many truck loads for a 50 ft driveway?
About 1 loads of 15 tons, including some extra.
How many tons of road base are in a cubic yard?
Roughly 1.5 tons for planning, but suppliers vary with stone size and moisture.
Should I put landscape fabric under the stone?
On soft or clay soil, a woven geotextile keeps stone from sinking into the dirt and makes the layer last longer.
Related guides
- How to Build a Gravel Driveway That Lasts
- How Much Gravel for a 100 Foot Driveway? Tons by Depth
- A Passing Pullout on a Long Driveway
- How Much Does a Ton of Gravel Cover? Depth Chart
- Tons to Cubic Yards for Gravel: Conversion Chart
- Crushed Stone vs Gravel: Differences and Best Uses
- Geotextile Fabric for Driveways: Woven vs Nonwoven and How Much You Need
- Compacting a Driveway Gravel Base in Lifts
- How Much #57 Stone for a 750 Foot Driveway?
- How Much #57 Stone for a 1000 Foot Driveway?
As an Amazon Associate, AsphaltTons.com earns from qualifying purchases. Product links below are sponsored.