Aggregate Price Comparison Calculator

How it works

A quote per ton and a quote per cubic yard are the same price once you know how many tons a cubic yard of the material weighs: price per yard = price per ton × tons per yard. The density is for loose material, as it is measured in a truck or stockpile. The quantity is converted the same way, so it can be entered in either unit, and the material is priced on the basis the supplier quoted. The delivery charge is added once.

Bags are bought by weight. The quantity in pounds (2,000 lb per ton) divided by the bag weight, rounded up, is the bag count; a cubic yard holds density × 2,000 ÷ bag weight bags. At 1.35 tons per cubic yard a 50 lb bag is 0.5 cu ft and a cubic yard is 54 bags.

When a ton of bags costs more than a ton in bulk, the difference repays the delivery charge at the break-even quantity: delivery ÷ (bagged price per ton − bulk price per ton). Above it bulk costs less, apart from the rounding to whole bags. When bags cost no more per ton there is no break-even.

Formula

price per cu yd   = price per ton × density
tons              = cu yd × density
bulk cost         = quantity (in the quoted basis) × quoted price + delivery
bags              = max(1, ⌈ tons × 2,000 ÷ bag weight ⌉);  bagged cost = bags × bag price
bags per cu yd    = density × 2,000 ÷ bag weight
bagged $ per ton  = bag price × 2,000 ÷ bag weight
break-even tons   = delivery ÷ (bagged $ per ton − bulk $ per ton)

Example

Crushed stone quoted at $40 a ton with a loose density of 1.4 tons per cubic yard is 40 × 1.4 = $56 per cubic yard. Ten tons is 10 ÷ 1.4 = 7.14 cu yd; with $75 delivery it costs 400 + 75 = $475 delivered, $47.50 a ton or $66.50 a cubic yard.

The same 10 tons is 20,000 lb, or 400 bags of 50 lb, which at $6 a bag is $2,400, so bulk is cheaper by $1,925. Bags work out at 6 × 2,000 ÷ 50 = $240 a ton, $200 more than bulk, so the $75 delivery is repaid at 75 ÷ 200 = 0.375 tons (0.27 cu yd).

Assumptions and limitations

• Density is a typical, editable figure, not the property of a particular product. FM 5-434, Earthmoving Operations (US Army, 2000), Table 1-2, lists loose weights of 2,700–3,000 lb per cu yd for dry gravel, 2,800–3,100 for wet gravel, 2,600–2,900 for dry sand and 2,800–3,100 for wet sand; moisture, grading and stone type move it. The supplier's conversion governs.
• Tons are US short tons of 2,000 lb. Bags are counted by weight; a bag's volume depends on the same density, so bags per cubic yard are estimates.
• Prices are illustrative. Minimum loads, per-load fuel charges, taxes, pallet deposits and the cost of collecting bags are not included.
• This compares costs; it is not a statement of any supplier's price or terms.

Frequently asked questions