Asphalt tonnage calculator
The province's own arithmetic, not this site's. Area times lift thickness times mix density, with the density taken from MTO's published table rather than from a single number somebody rounded off.
Last updated: By The Pavement Desk
tonnes per cubic metre, MTO's published range across mixes
rows in MTO's density table, three of which it declines to number
Hot mix to order
20.00 m³ of Superpave 12.5 at 2.460 t/m³, over 400.0 m² (4,306 sq ft) at 50 mm compacted
- One tonne covers, at this thickness
- 8.1 m²
- Mix material at Toronto's own HL-8 rate
- $7,026
Formula and density from Ontario Ministry of Transportation (CDED B313, Detail Estimating: Hot Mix Asphalt, April 2025, s.313.8.3)
Material rate from City of Toronto (Broadview Avenue Extension, Municipal Class Environmental Assessment, preliminary cost estimate), material only, before placement
Compaction, placement, mobilization and traffic control are not in the material figure.
Why the mix has to be an input
Most asphalt calculators ask for area and thickness and then quietly multiply by a single density, usually 2.4 tonnes per cubic metre. That number is not wrong so much as unattached: it is not any particular mix, and in Ontario it does not match the figure the province actually uses to set tender tonnages on any of them.
The Ontario Ministry of Transportation publishes a table of recommended mix densities for exactly this purpose, in CDED B313, Detail Estimating: Hot Mix Asphalt, April 2025. Superpave 9.5 is 2.410 tonnes per cubic metre. Superpave 12.5, the commonest surface course on Ontario highways, is 2.460, as is Superpave 19.0. SMA 9.5 is 2.480 and Superpave 25.0 is 2.500. For Superpave 12.5FC 1, Superpave 12.5FC 2 and SMA 12.5 there is not one figure but three, chosen by where the work is: 2.390 in East Region, 2.530 in West Region and 2.520 in Central and North. Toronto and the GTA are Central Region.
Between the lightest and heaviest of those, the same volume of asphalt differs by about 5% in weight. On a 4,000 square metre lot at 50 millimetres that is roughly 22 tonnes appearing or disappearing purely from the mix designation. Asphalt is bought by the tonne and laid by the square metre, so that 5% is real money, and it is one honest reason two bids on identical drawings can differ.
Three mixes on MTO’s table have no number beside them at all. For Superpave 4.75, Superpave 37.5 and SMA 19.0 the entry reads “Contact Regional Geotechnical Section”. They are not offered here for that reason: the province declines to publish a planning density for them, and inventing one would be worse than saying so. Note 1 to the same table records that the published densities assume local coarse and fine aggregates, except for the SMA and 12.5FC mixes, which assume aggregates typical of their region.
The material rate this page prices against is the City of Toronto’s own, $142.80 per tonne for HL-8, read off its published cost estimate. Two cautions come with it. HL-1 and HL-8 are Marshall-era Ontario designations rather than Superpave mixes, so pairing a Toronto HL rate with an MTO Superpave density is an approximation. And it is a material rate inside a municipal estimate: placement, compaction, mobilization, traffic control and the contractor’s margin are all outside it. Use it to sanity-check a material line, never as a paving price.
For what a finished surface costs rather than what the mix weighs, see the asphalt driveway cost calculator or the Toronto resurfacing cost guide.
Sources
- Ontario Ministry of Transportation - CDED B313, Detail Estimating: Hot Mix Asphalt, April 2025 (s.313.8.2 formula and s.313.8.3 Recommended Mix Densities)
- City of Toronto - Broadview Avenue Extension (North Segment), Municipal Class Environmental Assessment, Preliminary Cost Estimate
- Ontario Asphalt Pavement Council - MTO Asphalt Cement Price Index
Canadian dollars and Ontario documents, August 2026. The two unit conversions this page uses, 25.4 mm to the inch and 0.09290304 m² to the square foot, are exact by definition and cite nothing because nothing is needed.
Frequently asked questions
How many tonnes of asphalt do I need?
- Area in square metres, times lift thickness in metres, times the mix density in tonnes per cubic metre. That is the Ontario Ministry of Transportation's own formula from section 313.8.2 of CDED B313, and it is what this page computes. A 400 square metre driveway at 50 mm in Superpave 12.5, whose MTO density is 2.460, is 400 x 0.05 x 2.460 = 49.2 tonnes. Order in whole loads and talk to the plant about the minimum.
What density should I use for asphalt?
- The one for your actual mix, because MTO publishes a different figure for each. Its table gives 2.410 tonnes per cubic metre for Superpave 9.5, 2.460 for Superpave 12.5 and 19.0, 2.480 for SMA 9.5, 2.500 for Superpave 25.0, and for the 12.5FC and SMA 12.5 mixes it gives 2.390 in East Region, 2.520 in Central and North and 2.530 in West. Toronto and the GTA are Central Region. If your mix is Superpave 4.75, 37.5 or SMA 19.0, MTO gives no number and tells the designer to contact the Regional Geotechnical Section, so ask your plant.
How thick should the asphalt be?
- The City of Toronto's own published pavement structure for the Broadview Avenue Extension is 40 mm of HL-1 over 50 mm of HL-8, on 150 mm of Granular A. Its asphalt cycle path is different again at 90 mm of HL-8. Those are public roads, so they are a defensible upper benchmark for a commercial lot and generous for a house driveway. The thickness that matters in a bid is the COMPACTED thickness, and it should be written down per lift, not as one total.
Why does the tonnage change when I change the mix?
- Because a denser mix packs more mass into the same volume. Between Superpave 9.5 at 2.410 tonnes per cubic metre and Superpave 12.5FC in West Region at 2.530, the same volume of asphalt differs by about 5% in weight. Since asphalt is bought by the tonne and laid by the square metre, that 5% is real money on a big lot, and it is one of the reasons two bids on identical drawings can differ without either being wrong.
What does asphalt material cost per tonne in Toronto?
- The City of Toronto's own road-construction estimate prices HL-8 at $142.80 per tonne and HL-1 at $183.60 per tonne, material only. Those are a municipality's figures for a large public project, so they are a floor rather than a quote, and they exclude placement, compaction, mobilization, traffic control and everything else that makes up a paving bill. Use them to sanity-check a material line, not to price a job.
Does an overlay need anything between the old and new asphalt?
- Yes, a tack coat, and it should be its own line on a bid. The City of Toronto prices it at $1.36 per square metre in the same estimate. It is the bonding layer between an existing surface and a new lift, so it applies to an overlay and not to a first lift going down on fresh granular. A new lift that is not bonded to what is underneath it can shear and slip under braking traffic.
What goes under it
Hot mix is the top of a structure, not the whole of it. Under the 90 millimetres of asphalt in Toronto’s own road section there is 150 millimetres of Granular A, and getting that base wrong is what makes a good asphalt job fail early.