Enter your area size and how thick the asphalt will be, and get the tons and cubic yards you need for a driveway or lot.
Asphalt is ordered by weight, so you start with volume. Take the length and width of the area in feet and how thick the asphalt will be in inches. Multiply length by width to get the square footage, multiply that by the thickness in feet (inches ÷ 12) to get cubic feet, then convert to tons using the density of the mix. There are 27 cubic feet in a cubic yard.
Hot-mix asphalt weighs about 145 lb per cubic foot, so a cubic yard (27 cubic feet) is roughly 1.96 tons (145 × 27 ÷ 2000). Density varies with the mix and how well it's compacted, so treat the tonnage as approximate and confirm with your supplier when you place the order.
For an overlay on a sound surface, about 2 to 3 inches of compacted asphalt is typical. For a new residential driveway, plan on 3 to 4 inches over a compacted gravel base. Parking lots and areas with heavy vehicles need more — check with a paving contractor for anything load-bearing.
This is a planning aid. Hot-mix asphalt weighs about 145 lb per cubic foot; density varies with the mix, so treat tons as approximate. Always round up and order a little extra.