How Much Sand for a 3x30 Walkway?

A 3 by 30 foot walkway is 90 square feet. How much sand for a 3x30 walkway depends on depth: at 3 inches it is about 0.83 cubic yards or 1.1 tons. Suppliers usually sell by the ton, so the tonnage is the number to give them.

Volume and tonnage calculator →

The math for a 3x30 walkway

Area: 3 × 30 = 90 sq ft.
Depth in feet: 3 ÷ 12 = 0.250 ft.
Cubic feet: 90 × 0.250 = 22.5 cu ft.
Cubic yards: ÷ 27 = 0.83 yd³.
Tons: × 1.35 = 1.1 tons.

The volume and tonnage calculator does this for any size.

Sand needed by depth

Depth	Cubic yards	Tons (approx.)	Tons +10%
1 in	0.28	0.4	0.4
2 in	0.56	0.8	0.8
3 in	0.83	1.1	1.2
4 in	1.11	1.5	1.7

About sand

Sand weight changes a lot with moisture. Damp sand can weigh noticeably more per yard than dry sand, so a ton of wet sand covers less area than the same ton dry. If the yard sells by the cubic yard instead of the ton, use the cubic-yard column directly.

Preparing the walkway

Dig the path a few inches below grade, compact the bottom, add fabric if needed and install edging on both sides so the material stays on the walk. Since the walkway carries foot traffic, a little extra depth is cheap insurance.

Ordering tips

Round up. Compaction and uneven ground eat material. Adding about 10 percent is common.
Delivery size. 1.2 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 about 1.1 tons this job is small enough that bagged material could work; a 0.5 cubic foot bag holds about 1/54 of a yard, so compare the bag count with a bulk minimum.
Where it drops. Have the truck dump as close to the walkway as firm ground allows.

Good and poor uses for sand

Good uses:

Paver and flagstone bedding
Leveling under above-ground pools (with the right product)
Filling joints and backfilling pipe

Less suited to:

Driveway bases, since sand shifts under load
Steep areas exposed to runoff
Thick layers under pavers, which settle unevenly

Quick reference numbers

Per inch over 100 sq ft: about 0.42 tons of sand (0.31 cubic yards).
Per inch over 1,000 sq ft: about 4.2 tons.
Another size for comparison: a 8x16 area at 3 inches takes about 1.6 tons.
Weight used here: about 1.35 tons per cubic yard.

Where estimates go wrong

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.
Mixing up cubic yards and tons. Yards are volume, tons are weight; convert with the product’s weight per yard.
Forgetting that compaction shrinks loose material. A loose 4-inch spread of a dense-graded stone may finish closer to 3 inches after rolling.

Questions people ask

How many tons of sand for a 3x30 walkway?

About 1.1 tons at 3 inches deep, or 1.2 tons with 10 percent extra.

How many cubic yards is a 3x30 walkway at 3 inches?

About 0.83 cubic yards.

How much does a cubic yard of sand weigh?

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

How deep should sand be for a walkway?

The table above shows 1 to 4 inches. Shallower depths suit top dressing; deeper depths suit new installs and heavier use.

How many square feet is 3x30?

90 square feet.

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