Fill & Gravel Calculator
Work out how much material you need — and what it will cost delivered. Enter your area and depth, pick a material, and get volume, tonnage, and truckloads. Densities and prices are editable Canadian averages.
Area & Depth
Adjust density, price & truck size
Order Summary
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How this estimate works
Volume = length × width × depth, increased by your compaction/settlement allowance. Tonnage = volume × material density (defaults: pit run 1.8 t/m³, sand 1.6, common fill 1.7, crushed gravel 1.65, clear stone 1.5, crusher dust 1.8). Truckloads = tonnage ÷ truck capacity, rounded up — you pay for full loads. Cost = tonnage × delivered price per tonne.
What drives the number
Haul distance often costs more than the stone. Aggregate is heavy and low-value per tonne, so a large share of what you pay is trucking, not material. Two identical orders quoted from two pits at different distances won't come close to matching, and this is the main reason "average" aggregate prices are close to meaningless — the number that matters is the delivered price from your nearest supplier. Always ask for the delivered price, not the pit-gate price. On a long rural haul, the freight can exceed the material.
You pay for whole truckloads. This is the detail that surprises people most. A load is a load whether it's full or not, so ordering 11 tonnes when the truck carries 14 usually costs the same as ordering 14. The calculator rounds up for exactly this reason. It's also why it's worth finding somewhere useful to put the extra material — a shed pad, a low spot, a future parking area — rather than ordering short and paying a second delivery for the shortfall.
Compaction is not optional and it isn't free volume. Loose material settles substantially when compacted, so ordering the exact geometric volume of your excavation guarantees you'll come up short. The compaction allowance in this tool accounts for that. How much you need depends on the material and how it's placed: well-graded granular with fines compacts and locks tightly, while clear stone barely compacts at all because it's already at its packed density — which is precisely why it's used where drainage matters.
The material you pick has to match the job, and picking wrong is expensive twice — once to buy it and once to dig it out. Pit run is cheap bulk fill for building up grade, not a driving surface. Crushed granular with fines is the standard compactable base under driveways and slabs. Clear stone drains but won't compact, so it belongs around weeping tile and under slabs where water has to move, not as a base you'll drive on. Crusher dust makes a fine, tight-packing surface but sheds water poorly. Our guide to choosing the right gravel matches material to application.
Density varies more than the defaults suggest. The tonne-per-cubic-metre figures here are reasonable planning averages, but real densities shift with moisture content and with the specific quarry's stone. Wet material weighs more per unit volume — which matters because you buy by weight and place by volume. For a large order, ask your supplier for their actual density.
What this estimate does not include
This tool prices material delivered to your property. It stops there:
- Placing and compacting it. A dump truck leaves a pile at the end of the driveway. Moving it where it needs to go and compacting it in lifts is equipment and labour — commonly a skid steer or excavator plus a plate compactor or roller, by the day.
- Excavation and removal of what's already there, including disposal of unsuitable material. Trucking spoil away is frequently as expensive as bringing granular in, and on contaminated or organic soil it can be considerably worse.
- Geotextile. Over soft or fine-grained subgrade, separation fabric stops your granular from disappearing into the mud over the next few years. Cheap at the time, and expensive to omit.
- Site access constraints. If a full tandem or triaxle can't reach the placement point, you're paying for smaller loads or double-handling, both of which raise the effective cost per tonne well above the quoted price.
- Minimum order charges and short-load fees, which many suppliers apply below a threshold.
- Seasonal availability. Not a cost line, but pits close and pricing moves; spring road restrictions in many jurisdictions limit truck weights and can raise haul costs or delay delivery entirely.
If you're budgeting a whole project rather than a single order, the Lot Development Estimator puts material alongside the clearing, driveway, and servicing costs it usually arrives with. For how much material a truck actually carries and what a load costs, see What a Truckload of Fill Costs.