Asphalt Removal Calculator

How asphalt removal quantities are calculated

Asphalt removal is measured as a volume but planned as a weight. Haulers, recycling yards and disposal sites mostly work in tons or tonnes, while the pavement itself is described by an area and a thickness. Three inputs connect the two:

1. Surface area: the paved area to be removed, from length × width or from a measured total. Irregular sites can be split into rectangles and added together.
2. Removal depth: how deep the asphalt is milled or taken out. For milling it is the planned milling depth; for full-depth removal it is the full thickness of the asphalt layers, not the base underneath.
3. In-place density: the weight of one cubic foot or cubic metre of the pavement as it sits, compacted, in the ground.

Area × depth gives the in-place volume, the space the asphalt occupies before it is disturbed. In-place volume × in-place density gives the weight of material that has to leave the site. Truck loads and receiving charges are planning arithmetic on that weight.

Using the asphalt removal calculator

1. Choose US customary or Metric units. Switching converts the values you have already entered rather than clearing them.
2. Enter the length and width, or choose Total area and type a measured area. In US units the total can be in square feet or square yards.
3. Enter the removal depth: inches in US units, millimetres or centimetres in metric.
4. Check the in-place density. It starts at a planning value of 148 lb/ft³ (2,371 kg/m³ in metric); replace it with a measured value when you have one.
5. Optionally add the truck payload and the rate per US ton or tonne charged by the receiving, disposal or recycling site.

The working is listed under the result, one line per step, so every figure can be checked by hand.

In-place asphalt density vs loose millings density

The density you use decides the weight, and asphalt has two quite different densities during a removal job:

• In place: compacted pavement, with aggregate and binder packed tightly together. The Asphalt Institute gives 142 to 148 lb/ft³ as the typical weight of asphalt mixture in place, about 2,275 to 2,370 kg/m³.
• Loose or processed: once milled or broken, the same material is a heap of pieces with air between them. FHWA guidance reports 120 to 140 lb/ft³ for milled or processed reclaimed asphalt pavement (RAP), and gives 1,940 to 2,300 kg/m³ as its metric range.

Taking pavement out doesn't change its weight, only how much space it takes up: a ton of millings fills more of a truck body or stockpile than a ton of compacted pavement. The weight is fixed by the pavement before it is disturbed, so an in-place volume belongs with the in-place density of the existing pavement.

Pairing an in-place volume with a loose density understates the weight. In the parking lot example below, 148 lb/ft³ gives 740.00 US tons. The same volume at 130 lb/ft³, a value inside the loose RAP range, gives 650.00 US tons: 90.00 US tons, or about 12%, too little. The calculator adds a note to any density below 140 lb/ft³ (2,240 kg/m³) asking you to check that it is not a loose density. A low value isn't necessarily RAP: some in-place mixes, such as porous asphalt, are lighter.

The best density is one measured on the pavement being removed: lab-tested cores, paving records or the project documents. Without those, the calculator starts at 148 lb/ft³, the value the Asphalt Institute uses in its own estimating example and the top of its typical range. It is a planning value for conventional dense-graded asphalt, not a property of every pavement. Porous mixes are lighter; heavy-aggregate mixes can be denser. Even inside the typical range the choice matters: for the same parking lot, 142 lb/ft³ gives 710.00 US tons and 148 lb/ft³ gives 740.00 US tons, a spread of 30.00 US tons. If your pavement is at the low end of the range, the planning value overstates its weight by about 4%.

Asphalt removal calculation formulas

US customary units

• Area: sq ft = length (ft) × width (ft), or sq ft = sq yd × 9
• In-place volume: ft³ = sq ft × depth (in) ÷ 12, and yd³ = ft³ ÷ 27
• Weight: lb = ft³ × density (lb/ft³), and US tons = lb ÷ 2,000

Metric units

• Area: m² = length (m) × width (m)
• In-place volume: m³ = m² × depth (mm) ÷ 1,000, or m³ = m² × depth (cm) ÷ 100
• Weight: kg = m³ × density (kg/m³), and tonnes = kg ÷ 1,000

Truck loads and receiving charge

• Truck loads: loads = weight ÷ truck payload, rounded up to a whole number
• Receiving / disposal / recycling cost: cost = weight in US tons or tonnes × rate per US ton or tonne

A US ton (short ton) is 2,000 lb. A metric tonne is 1,000 kg, about 2,204.6 lb, so 1 tonne is about 1.102 US tons and the same pavement weighs about 10% more in US tons than in tonnes. Check which ton your hauler and receiving site mean before comparing prices.

Asphalt removal examples

Each example was run through this calculator, which rounds only for display. Payloads and rates are illustrations, not typical values: use the figures your hauler and receiving site quote.

Residential driveway

A driveway 60 ft long and 12 ft wide is removed full depth. Cores show 3 in of asphalt, and with no density records the planning value of 148 lb/ft³ is used.

• Surface area: 60 ft × 12 ft = 720 sq ft
• In-place volume: 720 sq ft × (3 in ÷ 12) = 180 ft³; 180 ft³ ÷ 27 = 6.67 yd³
• Removed weight: 180 ft³ × 148 lb/ft³ = 26,640 lb; 26,640 lb ÷ 2,000 = 13.32 US tons
• Truck loads: 13.32 US tons ÷ 10 US tons = 1.33, rounded up to 2 loads

With trucks carrying 10 US tons, the second load carries only 3.32 US tons, but it is still a trip.

Commercial parking lot

A parking area 200 ft × 150 ft has 4 in of asphalt to remove full depth, at 148 lb/ft³. The hauler's trucks carry 22 US tons, and the recycling yard quotes 15.00 per US ton.

• Surface area: 200 ft × 150 ft = 30,000 sq ft
• In-place volume: 30,000 sq ft × (4 in ÷ 12) = 10,000 ft³; 10,000 ft³ ÷ 27 = 370.37 yd³
• Removed weight: 10,000 ft³ × 148 lb/ft³ = 1,480,000 lb; 1,480,000 lb ÷ 2,000 = 740.00 US tons
• Truck loads: 740.00 US tons ÷ 22 US tons = 33.64, rounded up to 34 loads
• Receiving / disposal / recycling cost: 740.00 US tons × 15.00 per US ton = 11,100.00

The 11,100.00 is the receiving charge only. Milling or breaking, loading, trucking and everything else on the job are priced separately.

Street milling measured in square yards

Milling is often quantified in square yards. A street rehabilitation mills 2 in from 8,000 sq yd of pavement at 148 lb/ft³, entered under Total area in square yards.

• Surface area: 8,000 sq yd × 9 = 72,000 sq ft
• In-place volume: 72,000 sq ft × (2 in ÷ 12) = 12,000 ft³; 12,000 ft³ ÷ 27 = 444.44 yd³
• Removed weight: 12,000 ft³ × 148 lb/ft³ = 1,776,000 lb; 1,776,000 lb ÷ 2,000 = 888.00 US tons
• Truck loads: 888.00 US tons ÷ 20 US tons = 44.4, rounded up to 45 loads

That is 444.44 yd³ of pavement in place; the millings will take up more space than that once loaded.

Metric milling example

A 1,000 m stretch of road, 7 m wide, is milled 40 mm deep at the metric planning value of 2,371 kg/m³, with trucks carrying 25 tonnes.

• Surface area: 1,000 m × 7 m = 7,000 m²
• In-place volume: 7,000 m² × (40 mm ÷ 1,000) = 280 m³
• Removed weight: 280 m³ × 2,371 kg/m³ = 663,880 kg; 663,880 kg ÷ 1,000 = 663.88 tonnes
• Truck loads: 663.88 tonnes ÷ 25 tonnes = 26.56, rounded up to 27 loads

The last of the 27 loads carries 13.88 tonnes.

Planning truck loads for removed asphalt

Truck loads are the removed weight divided by the payload, always rounded up: a part-full truck is still a trip. The payload depends on the truck, its axle configuration and the weight limits and permits where it travels, so the calculator doesn't assume one. Ask the hauler for the payload they plan to carry.

A truck can also fill up before it reaches its weight limit: millings and broken slabs take more space than compacted pavement, and large pieces stack poorly. The calculator counts loads by weight, so confirm with the hauler that each body can hold that weight of the material.

How many trucks are needed at once depends on haul distance, removal rate and unloading time, which are outside this calculation. Scale tickets give the actual tonnage once the work is done.

Milling vs full-depth asphalt removal

FHWA describes two ways asphalt pavement is generally removed:

• Milling: a milling machine removes the pavement surface to a set depth, usually leaving the lower layers in place, and the cuttings are loaded straight into trucks. Enter the planned milling depth. Actual depth can vary across a site with ruts, edges and cross slope.
• Full-depth removal: the whole asphalt layer is ripped and broken, for example with a bulldozer or an excavator, and lifted out in pieces. Enter the full asphalt thickness, measured from cores or edge cuts. Broken pieces are usually crushed and screened before the material is reused.

The weight calculation is the same for both: area × depth × in-place density. What differs is the depth you enter and the form the removed material takes. If base aggregate or soil comes out with the asphalt, estimate it separately. It is a different material with its own density, and receiving sites may handle it differently.

Estimating disposal or recycling quantities

The removed weight is the quantity to discuss with the site that takes the material. Many receiving, recycling and disposal sites charge by weight; others price by the load or by volume, so ask. A rate per US ton or tonne is multiplied by the tonnage and shown as Receiving / disposal / recycling cost, in the currency of your rate.

Removed asphalt is widely recycled as RAP, but acceptance is up to each site. Material mixed with soil, base aggregate, concrete, paving fabric or other debris may be refused or charged at a different rate. Confirm what a site accepts before the work starts. If a site takes clean material at no charge, enter a rate of 0 or leave the rate blank.

The receiving charge is one line of a removal budget. It does not include milling or demolition equipment, labor, loading, hauling, traffic control, permits, base repair or replacement pavement.

How to improve your estimate

• Measure the actual area. Subtract islands, concrete pads and anything else that stays; add aprons and patches that are included.
• Confirm the thickness. Pavements that have been overlaid or patched over the years are rarely one even thickness. Cores or test holes at several points give a far better depth than a single assumption.
• Use a measured density instead of the planning value.
• Split sites with different depths into separate calculations and add the results, rather than averaging very different areas.
• Check the ton. Make sure payloads and rates use the same ton as your estimate: US tons or metric tonnes.

Limitations of an asphalt removal estimate

This is a quantity estimate, not an engineering assessment. It doesn't decide the milling depth, whether pavement should be milled or removed full depth, or what the base needs afterwards; those decisions belong to the project's engineer, specification or owner. The calculation assumes one depth and one density across the area entered, and it doesn't estimate the loose volume of millings in a truck or stockpile. Moisture, debris and base material mixed in with the asphalt are not included. The cost line covers only the rate you enter.

Sources and methodology

This asphalt removal calculator converts units with exact definitions (1 ft = 0.3048 m, 1 lb = 0.45359237 kg), calculates at full precision in your browser, and rounds only for display. Our methodology explains how calculators are built and tested, and the calculator disclaimer explains their limits.

• Typical in-place weight of asphalt mixture, 142 to 148 lb/ft³, and the 148 lb/ft³ used in its estimating example (the planning value here): Asphalt Institute, "How do I determine how much asphalt is required for a project?"
• Milling and full-depth removal, and the 120 to 140 lb/ft³ unit weight of milled or processed RAP: FHWA, "Reclaimed Asphalt Pavement – Material Description", User Guidelines for Waste and Byproduct Materials in Pavement Construction (FHWA-RD-97-148)