How Much Asphalt Do I Need for My Driveway in Little Rock? Two Measurements, One Formula, and the Written Quote From Alec's Asphalt Paving

Take two measurements with a tape: the length of the driveway and its width, both in feet. If the width wanders, measure the narrowest and widest points and average them. Write the numbers down before anyone starts talking tons.

Tons of asphalt equal square yards, times pounds per square yard per inch, times inches of compacted thickness, divided by 2,000. Your tape gives the square yards. The written quote gives the real quantity. Alec's Asphalt Paving, a family-owned Little Rock company started in 2015, gives free written estimates, and its website, alecsasphalt.com, is where to ask for one.

A parking lot seen from directly above, crisp white stall lines and hatched islands, Little Rock asphalt paving

Step 1: Turn feet into square yards

Multiply length by width for square feet. Divide by 9 to get square yards, since one square yard is 3 feet by 3 feet. A 12-foot by 40-foot driveway is 480 square feet, or about 53.3 square yards. I will use that driveway for every number below.

Step 2: Find the weight per square yard per inch

The Tennessee Department of Transportation shows how a DOT does this. Its design guidance computes hot mix quantity as area in square yards times pounds per square yard per inch of thickness, divided by 2,000 pounds per ton. Its table lists a surface mix, Grading D, at 106 pounds per square yard per inch. The base mixes in the same table run from 90 to 115.

Tennessee's 106 belongs to a Tennessee mix. Another plant's mix can weigh differently, which is one reason a quote beats a calculator.

Step 3: Add the compacted thickness

Thickness is the one number a tape cannot give you. Hot mix goes down loose and is rolled thinner, so the figure that counts is the thickness after the roller, called compacted thickness.

Published examples show the spread. In Asphalt Magazine's March 2008 article, Tim Murphy of Murphy Pavement Technology in Chicago recommends 4 inches of compacted hot mix on a full-depth driveway. Buddy Prather, president of Prather Paving in Lexington, Kentucky, puts down 2 inches of compacted surface mix on small driveways where the subgrade is good.

Neither number is Alec's. At Alec's Asphalt Paving, compacted thickness is worked out per job, and the written quote states it in inches, compacted. That number decides whether a driveway lasts fifteen years or three.

A worked example, for arithmetic only

Using Tennessee's 106 on the 53.3 square yards above:

  • 2 inches compacted: 53.3 x 106 x 2 is about 11,300 pounds, or roughly 5.7 tons.
  • 3 inches compacted: 53.3 x 106 x 3 is about 16,960 pounds, or roughly 8.5 tons.
  • 4 inches compacted: 53.3 x 106 x 4 is about 22,600 pounds, or roughly 11.3 tons.

Doubling the thickness doubles the tons. That is why a bid that quietly lays an inch less can look cheap on paper. Once the surface cools, nobody can tell.

What if the driveway is not a rectangle?

Split it into pieces, find the square feet of each, and add them. Take the 12 by 40 driveway and add a 10-foot by 16-foot parking pad beside it. That is 160 more square feet, 640 in all, or about 71.1 square yards. At 3 inches compacted and Tennessee's 106, the total is about 22,600 pounds, or roughly 11.3 tons.

The pad alone adds about 2.8 tons, the same as one more inch of thickness over the main strip. A curved apron or a flared mouth can be broken into a rectangle plus a wedge, or averaged by width.

What should the quantity line on a quote say?

It should state the area, the compacted thickness in inches, and the tonnage. It helps if it also says whether the tonnage includes any allowance for edges. A bid that gives only a price and a number of tons, with no inches, cannot be checked. Work out your own estimate from this page, then compare. If the two tonnages are far apart, ask why. The answer may be a thicker build, a deeper stone base, or an odd shape.

Why does the written quote fix the real quantity?

A driveway is rarely a clean rectangle. Curves, aprons, turnarounds, widened parking pads, and the depth of stone underneath all change the count. A written quote puts the area, the compacted thickness in inches, and the quantity in one place, so you can hold it against another bid.

Alec's Asphalt Paving makes no decision on the doorstep. The quote comes in writing, and comparing it with others is expected.

Questions people ask

Is a square yard the same as a square foot? No. A square yard is 9 square feet.

Does the formula cover the stone base? No. It counts the hot mix layers only. Ask the quote to list the base separately.

Where is Alec's Asphalt Paving? At 1501 Westpark Dr #68, Little Rock, AR 72204. The number is (501) 506-6799, and the business works in every town in Arkansas.

About Alec's Asphalt Paving

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