Enter the slab, patio, driveway or footing you are breaking out. You get the cubic yards in place and broken, the tons, and how many heavy-debris hauls it takes. Concrete weighs about 3,960 lb per cubic yard in place, and it takes about 67% more room once it is broken.1
Rules of thumb
From the same math as the calculator. Every 100 sq ft of 4 in slab is about 1.2 cubic yards and 2.4 tons.1
| Job | In place | Broken, loose | Weight | Plan |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Walkway, 30 by 4 ft, 4 in | 1.5 cu yd | 2.5 cu yd | 5,870 lb (2.9 tons) | One 10 yard heavy-debris container |
| Patio, 12 by 12 ft, 4 in | 1.8 cu yd | 3 cu yd | 7,040 lb (3.5 tons) | One 10 yard heavy-debris container |
| Patio, 20 by 20 ft, 4 in | 4.9 cu yd | 8.2 cu yd | 19,560 lb (9.8 tons) | One 10 yard heavy-debris container |
| Driveway, 40 by 12 ft, 4 in | 5.9 cu yd | 9.9 cu yd | 23,470 lb (11.7 tons) | 2 hauls of a 10 yard heavy-debris container |
| Garage slab, 24 by 24 ft, 4 in, mesh | 7.1 cu yd | 11.9 cu yd | 28,800 lb (14.4 tons) | 2 hauls of a 10 yard heavy-debris container |
| Footing, 100 by 2 ft, 12 in, rebar | 7.4 cu yd | 12.4 cu yd | 30,000 lb (15 tons) | 2 hauls of a 10 yard heavy-debris container |
| Driveway, 40 by 20 ft, 6 in, rebar | 14.8 cu yd | 24.7 cu yd | 60,000 lb (30 tons) | 3 hauls of a 10 yard heavy-debris container |
| Thickness | Per 100 sq ft, in place | Weight | With rebar | Sq ft to 10 tons |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 4 in | 1.2 cu yd | 4,890 lb | 5,000 lb | About 400 |
| 5 in | 1.5 cu yd | 6,110 lb | 6,250 lb | About 320 |
| 6 in | 1.9 cu yd | 7,330 lb | 7,500 lb | About 270 |
| 8 in | 2.5 cu yd | 9,780 lb | 10,000 lb | About 200 |
Sq ft to 10 tons uses the rebar weight, rounded down, since 10 tons is the median included on heavy-material 10 yard quotes in our provider network.3 Your hauler's limit may differ.
The heavy-material rule
A 10 yard filled level with broken concrete would weigh about 12 tons,1 more than most heavy-debris quotes include. So concrete goes in a container quoted for heavy debris, usually a 10 yard or a lowboy with short walls, loaded to the provider's fill line. Where the local provider uses a 20 yard for heavy material, it is loaded only part way.
Keep the load clean. Trash, wood or drywall mixed in can turn it into a mixed load at the disposal site, and dirt or steel mixed in is quoted as its own material. Concrete disposal covers recyclers and other options, and dumpster weight limits explains the tons included.
| Item | We use | What the sources say |
|---|---|---|
| Concrete in place | 3,960 lb per cu yd, about 147 lb per cu ft | FHWA earthwork table, broken concrete in situ, within about 5%.1 Florida DOT uses 145 lb per cu ft for plain concrete.2 |
| With rebar or mesh | 150 lb per cu ft, 4,050 lb per cu yd | Florida DOT, steel reinforced structural concrete.2 |
| Broken, loose | 67% swell, 2,370 lb per loose cu yd | FHWA. Swell varies more than weight, so treat the loose volume as a starting point.1 EPA's conversion table lists only 860 lb per cubic yard for concrete, a figure from a California waste study that is far below the FHWA density, so we do not use it.4 |
| Range | Plus or minus 5% | FHWA's stated accuracy for in-place weights.1 |
| Tons per haul | 10 tons in a 10 yard heavy-debris container | Median across 429 heavy-material 10 yard quotes in our provider network.3 The hauler sets the real limit and fill line, and they vary by hauler and market. |
Not counted: water, base rock or soil stuck to the pieces, and anything else in the box.
Using the estimate
Send the size, the thickness, whether it has rebar and the address. Request a roll-off quote and say it is concrete.
Load to the line, not the rim. Past it, the driver can ask you to unload before the box leaves.
On a big slab, schedule the second box or the swap for when the first one reaches its weight.
Concrete only, unless the quote says otherwise. Overages are billed from the disposal site's ticket.
Call with the square footage, the thickness and the address. We size the heavy-debris box to the weight and come back with the tons included and a price from local providers in the markets we serve.
Questions
About 3,960 pounds in place, close to 2 tons, by FHWA's figure. Reinforced concrete is often taken as 150 pounds per cubic foot, about 4,050 pounds per cubic yard. Broken up and loose, it is about 2,370 pounds per cubic yard.
About 4,890 pounds per 100 square feet, or about 2.4 tons. A 20 by 20 foot patio at 4 inches is about 9.8 tons.
About 67% more than it did in place. A slab that measures 4.9 cubic yards fills about 8.2 cubic yards of container once it is broken.
Usually a 10 yard or a lowboy quoted for heavy debris, loaded to the fill line. Most heavy-material 10 yard quotes in our provider network include 10 tons, which is about 400 square feet of 4 inch slab. Larger jobs take more hauls.
A little: about 150 pounds per cubic foot instead of about 147. It matters more for the quote, since concrete with rebar or mesh is often quoted as its own material, so say so when you order.
Call sales at (888) 588-2607 or request a quote with the size, the thickness, whether it has rebar and the address.
Related guides
Sources