Concrete Weight Calculator

Weight (kg) = volume (yd³) × 0.7646 m³ per yd³ × density (kg per m³)

V

Volume of the pour, in cubic yards — the page converts to cubic metres before multiplying

ρ

Density of the concrete: 2,400 kg per m³ plain, 2,500 reinforced, 1,800 lightweight

2.20462

Pounds in a kilogram — the factor that turns the kilogram answer into the pound answer

2,000

Pounds in a short ton, which is what an American ton means: 907.18 kg, not 1,000

1,000

Kilograms in a metric tonne, so the kilogram answer divided by 1,000 is the tonne answer

Use it once the volume is known and something depends on the load: sizing formwork and props, checking a crane or a hoist, working out whether a floor or a trailer can take the pour, or filling in a delivery docket. It needs no dimensions at all — if you still have to work out the volume from a length, a width and a thickness, the concrete calculator does that and hands you the same number. And for the weight of the material in a masonry wall rather than a pour, the block and brick pages in this section return their own counts.

1. One cubic yard of plain concrete — the page's default

   1. Density of plain concrete: 2,400 kg per m³
   2. One cubic yard is 0.7646 m³, so the volume is already in the right unit after conversion
   3. Weight: 2,400 × 0.7646 = 1,835 kg
   4. In pounds: 1,835 × 2.20462 = 4,045 lb
   5. In metric tonnes: 1,835 ÷ 1,000 = 1.835 t
   6. In short tons: 4,045 ÷ 2,000 = 2.02

   The two ton outputs are the trap on this page. The same concrete is 1.835 tonnes and 2.02 short tons, because a short ton is 907.18 kg rather than 1,000 — so the short ton figure is always about 10% larger. Both are correct; they are different units, and reading 2.02 as tonnes would overstate the load by a tenth. As a memory aid, a cubic yard of plain concrete is a bit under two of either ton, and a cubic metre is about 2.4 tonnes.

2. Ten cubic yards of reinforced concrete

   1. Volume: 10 × 0.7646 = 7.6455 m³
   2. Density of reinforced concrete: 2,500 kg per m³
   3. Weight: 2,500 × 7.6455 = 19,114 kg
   4. In pounds: 19,114 × 2.20462 = 42,139 lb
   5. In tonnes: 19.114 t; in short tons: 21.07

   Nineteen tonnes is the figure the crane and the formwork care about, and it is a whole vehicle rather than a load. The 100 kg per cubic metre step from plain to reinforced is the usual allowance for ordinary reinforcement rather than the weighed steel in your own slab — a heavily reinforced member carries more steel and weighs more, and a lightly reinforced one less. Treat 2,500 as the middle of a range.

3. Two cubic yards of lightweight concrete

   1. Volume: 2 × 0.7646 = 1.5291 m³
   2. Density of lightweight concrete: 1,800 kg per m³
   3. Weight: 1,800 × 1.5291 = 2,752 kg
   4. In pounds: 2,752 × 2.20462 = 6,068 lb
   5. In tonnes: 2.752 t; in short tons: 3.03

   The same two yards of plain concrete would weigh 3,670 kg, so the lightweight mix saves 918 kg — a quarter of the load. That is the whole reason the option exists: lightweight aggregate concrete is used for roof and floor fills, screeds and anywhere the dead load or the lifting weight is the binding constraint, and the price is a lower strength and a higher cost per cubic metre.

The three densities are nominal figures for the three broad types, and real concrete moves around them by several percent: the aggregate's own density, how much water is in it, the air content and the steel all shift the answer, so treat every weight here as an estimate rather than a certified mass. The reinforced figure in particular is a standard allowance for ordinary reinforcement rather than a calculation of your slab's steel — a heavily reinforced beam or a raft can be well above 2,500 and a lightly meshed slab below it. Lightweight concrete is the widest of the three: it is defined by its aggregate rather than by a density, and structural lightweight mixes run in a band rather than at one value. The page also takes the volume as given: it does not know whether the space is really filled, and a pour with voids, honeycombing or a voided slab system (where the volume is partly occupied by void formers) weighs less than this returns. Finally, weight is not the same question as pressure or as load path — a heavy pour on a small footprint, or on props that are too widely spaced, fails by stress rather than by mass, and none of that is on this page.

How much does a cubic yard of concrete weigh?

2.02 short tons, or 1.835 tonnes, or 4,045 lb — all the same concrete. Plain concrete is about 2,400 kg per cubic metre and a cubic yard is 0.7646 of a cubic metre, which gives 1,835 kg. Reinforced concrete at 2,500 comes to 2.11 short tons and lightweight at 1,800 to 1.52. A cubic metre of the plain mix is 2.4 tonnes, which is the easier figure to hold on to if you work in metric.

What is the difference between a tonne and a short ton?

907.18 kilograms. A metric tonne is 1,000 kg or 2,204.6 lb, while a short ton is 2,000 lb or 907.18 kg, so the same mass is about 10% more short tons than tonnes — 1.835 against 2.02 in the first example. The page reports both because a US delivery ticket is in short tons while most of the world quotes tonnes, and reading one as the other is a tenth of the load.

How much does reinforced concrete weigh compared with plain?

About 4% more at the usual allowance: 2,500 kg per cubic metre against 2,400. That 100 kg step is a convention for ordinary reinforcement rather than the weighed steel in your slab, so it is the right figure for estimating a load and the wrong one for a lift plan that hinges on the last few percent. Heavily reinforced members can run higher; if the steel percentage is specified, the weight of the steel itself is straightforward to add to the plain-concrete figure.

Why does lightweight concrete weigh less?

Because the aggregate is porous rather than solid — expanded clay, shale, slate or slag instead of crushed stone, so the same volume of concrete contains a good deal less rock and somewhat less water. At about 1,800 kg per cubic metre it is roughly a quarter lighter than a plain mix, which is why it is used for floor and roof fills and for anything that has to be lifted. It is also weaker and dearer per cubic metre, so it is chosen when the dead load or the lifting weight is the problem being solved.

Can I use this for a wall or a footing?

Yes, if you have the volume — a wall's gross volume or a footing's is a weight like any other. What this page does not do is work out the volume, so measure the shape first, or use the concrete calculator, which takes a length, a width and a thickness and returns the same volume this page wants. For a masonry wall the more useful weight is usually the blocks and the mortar, which the block calculator and the brick calculator return.

How accurate are these weights?

To a few percent, which is fine for ordering, for formwork and for a rough lifting check, and not fine for anything certified. Density varies with the aggregate, the moisture content and the air content of the mix, so the same nominal mix from two plants can differ by a few percent, and lightweight concrete varies more than plain. If the weight is a design input rather than an estimate, take the density from the mix design or from the supplier's ticket rather than from this table.

• Approximate Conversions from U.S. Customary Measures to Metric — the chart behind the pound, short ton and cubic yard figures used here — National Institute of Standards and Technology
• The International System of Units (SI) brochure — the kilogram and the tonne, the two mass units the results are reported in — Bureau International des Poids et Mesures (BIPM)