How Much Gravel for a 16x36 Parking Pad?

A 16 by 36 foot parking pad is 576 square feet. How much gravel for a 16x36 parking pad depends on depth: at 4 inches it is about 7.11 cubic yards or 10.0 tons. Suppliers usually sell by the ton, so the tonnage is the number to give them.

Volume and tonnage calculator →

The math for a 16x36 parking pad

Area: 16 × 36 = 576 sq ft.
Depth in feet: 4 ÷ 12 = 0.333 ft.
Cubic feet: 576 × 0.333 = 192.0 cu ft.
Cubic yards: ÷ 27 = 7.11 yd³.
Tons: × 1.4 = 10.0 tons.

The volume and tonnage calculator does this for any size.

Gravel needed by depth

Depth	Cubic yards	Tons (approx.)	Tons +10%
2 in	3.56	5.0	5.5
3 in	5.33	7.5	8.2
4 in	7.11	10.0	11.0
6 in	10.67	14.9	16.4

About gravel

Plain gravel is a loose term. Yards use it for rounded bank or river stone as well as for crushed rock, so ask whether the load is washed, crushed or a mix before you lock in a tonnage. If the yard sells by the cubic yard instead of the ton, use the cubic-yard column directly.

Preparing the parking pad

Dig out organic soil, compact the subgrade and set an edge so the stone does not migrate onto the lawn. A pad that holds parked weight for long periods benefits from a dense base under the surface stone. For parked vehicles, the depths in the table above are a reasonable starting range.

Ordering tips

Round up. Compaction and uneven ground eat material. Adding about 10 percent is common.
Delivery size. 11.0 tons fits in a single typical dump truck load; small loads may carry a delivery fee. See how many tons of gravel in a dump truck.
Bulk vs bags. At this size bulk delivery is usually the practical choice.
Where it drops. Have the truck dump as close to the parking pad as firm ground allows.

Good and poor uses for gravel

Good uses:

Rural driveways and lanes where low upfront cost matters
Drainage areas and around downspouts
Temporary access while a site is under construction

Less suited to:

Steep slopes, where loose stone washes downhill
Spots plowed often, since plows push gravel into the lawn
Areas next to doors, because stone tracks inside

Quick reference numbers

Per inch over 100 sq ft: about 0.43 tons of gravel (0.31 cubic yards).
Per inch over 1,000 sq ft: about 4.3 tons.
Another size for comparison: a 10x20 area at 4 inches takes about 3.5 tons.
Weight used here: about 1.4 tons per cubic yard.

Mistakes that throw off the order

Ordering exactly the math. Uneven ground and spillage nearly always need a little more than the flat calculation.
Using inches as if they were feet. Depth has to be divided by 12 before you multiply; skipping that step inflates the order twelvefold.
Forgetting that compaction shrinks loose material. A loose 4-inch spread of a dense-graded stone may finish closer to 3 inches after rolling.
Mixing up cubic yards and tons. Yards are volume, tons are weight; convert with the product’s weight per yard.

Questions people ask

How many tons of gravel for a 16x36 parking pad?

About 10.0 tons at 4 inches deep, or 11.0 tons with 10 percent extra.

How many cubic yards is a 16x36 parking pad at 4 inches?

About 7.11 cubic yards.

How much does a cubic yard of gravel weigh?

Usually around 1.3 to 1.5 tons, depending on stone size, fines and moisture.

How deep should gravel be for a parking pad?

The table above shows 2 to 6 inches. Shallower depths suit top dressing; deeper depths suit new installs and heavier use.

How many square feet is 16x36?

576 square feet.

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