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Cubic yards and tons of fill dirt to raise a grade, fill a hole or level a slope, with the extra you need because fill shrinks when compacted.
With these inputs:
| Result | Value |
|---|---|
| Fill dirt to order (loose) | 8.52 yd³ |
| Weight | 8.97 tons |
| Compacted volume in place | 7.41 yd³ |
| 10-yard dump truck loads | 1 |
| Area | 200 sq ft |
| Average depth | 12 in |
| Soil | Common fill dirt, moist, 78 lb/ft³ |
| Compaction allowance | 15% |
Densities from The Engineering ToolBox (loose dry dirt 76 lb/ft³, loose moist 78, loam 80, dry clay 100, wet clay 110). Earthwork estimating references put the shrink of common earth compacted into fill at about 10–15% and heavy clay at 15–25%. Compact fill in 4–6 in layers and ask the supplier what their load weighs.
Fill dirt is ordered loose and shrinks when it is compacted in place. Pick the shape — a rectangle, a round hole or a wedge that levels a slope — enter the size and the finished depth, and the calculator returns the compacted volume, the loose cubic yards to order, the weight in tons for your soil type and the number of 10-yard truckloads.
Multiply length × width × depth in feet and divide by 27 for compacted cubic yards, then add 10–20% because loose dirt shrinks when compacted. A 20 × 10 ft area filled 12 in deep is 7.41 yd³ in place; with 15% for common fill that is 8.52 loose yards, about 9 tons of moist fill.
Loose dry dirt is about 76 lb per cubic foot (2,052 lb per yard) and loose moist dirt about 78 lb (2,106 lb per yard), per The Engineering ToolBox. Clay is much heavier: about 100 lb per cubic foot dry and 110 lb wet, close to 1.5 tons a yard.
Common earth loses about 10–15% of its loose volume when compacted into fill, heavy clay 15–25% and sandy material 5–12%, according to earthwork estimating references. The calculator adds 15% for common fill, 10% for loam and 20% for clay.
If the fill tapers from nothing at one end to full depth at the other, its average depth is half the deepest point. Choose the slope shape: a 20 × 10 ft area that is 0 in at one end and 24 in at the other averages 12 in, the same as a 12 in deep rectangle.
A typical tandem dump truck carries about 10 to 14 cubic yards of dirt, and a single-axle truck 5 to 6. Because dirt is heavy, the legal weight limit often caps the load before the bed is full — ask the hauler how many yards they deliver per load.
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