- In the United States, concrete is sold by the cubic yard. A cubic yard of material arranged in a cube shape would be one yard wide, by one yard long, by one yard deep. However, many applications where concrete is used--such as a sidewalk or a foundation for a tool shed, for example--do not require that concrete be poured one yard deep into a trench or excavated footing.
- Because concrete is sold in cubic yards, it may be easier to convert the unit of measurement to cubic feet. With a linear yard equaling 1 linear foot, 1 cubic yard is equal to 27 cubic feet (3 feet wide x 3 feet long x 3 feet deep).
First, let's determine how to convert the depth of the poured concrete. Depending on how the concrete will be used--such as for a driveway or a sidewalk--the depth of the poured concrete may not need to be more than a few inches thick. To determine thickness in terms of feet, divide how many inches thick the concrete will be by 12. This will give a number in terms of how many feet thick the concrete is. For example, if a walkway is planned to be 6 inches deep, that would come out to ½ foot in thickness.
Once you have the planned thickness determined, measure the width and the length of the area where the concrete will be poured, and calculate how many square feet you will need to cover in the poured area. For example, if you plan to pour a walkway that is 10-feet long and 4-feet wide, the area you need to pour will be 40 square feet.
Multiply the area by the depth of the concrete to obtain the number of yards of concrete needed. In the example we have considered, the planned walkway is 4 feet wide, 10 feet long and concrete will be poured 6 inches deep. Multiply each of those measurements in feet (4 feet x 10 feet x ½ feet) to obtain how many cubic feet of concrete are needed (20 cubic feet).
To convert cubic feet into cubic yards, divide your result by 27. Thus, for the sample walkway noted above, a minimum of 0.74 cubic yards of concrete are needed.
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