Editorial Policy

Where default values come from

Every calculator ships with a default density and a default binder content. Those are not invented and they are not averaged from other websites. They come from one of four places:

• The governing road authority specification for the region the page covers — VDOT, Caltrans, CDOT, MnDOT, NJDOT, NCDOT, Austroads, NZTA or MTO.
• MS-2 Asphalt Mix Design Methods (Asphalt Institute) for mix behaviour and volumetric relationships that are not region-specific.
• The ASTM and AASHTO test methods that define how a density is measured in the first place — principally ASTM D2041 (maximum theoretical, the Rice test) and ASTM D2726 (bulk specific gravity of compacted specimens).
• Arithmetic, where a figure is derived rather than quoted. The 110 lb per square yard per inch estimating rule, for instance, is not an independent measurement — it is what a density of roughly 147 lb/ft³ produces when you spread it one inch deep over a square yard.

Sources are listed at the foot of every technical page, with links to the actual document rather than to a summary of it.

Ranges, not single numbers

Where a specification gives a range, the page shows the range. Compacted dense-graded asphalt is commonly 2,300–2,400 kg/m³, and the honest answer to "what density should I use" is that it depends on your aggregate. A single default is offered so the calculator has somewhere to start, not because that number is correct for your job.

A defensible estimate needs the density from your approved Job Mix Formula. Where our default and your JMF disagree, use the JMF.

How figures are checked

Before a number is published it is checked three ways: against the cited source, against the same quantity expressed in the other unit system, and against the other pages on this site that quote it. The third check matters more than it sounds — the most recent correction on this site was caught precisely because two pages disagreed with each other.

In July 2026 the US state pages were found to be using 110 lb/ft³ as a volumetric density in their worked examples. That figure is really 110 lb per square yard per inch of thickness, an area-based shortcut, and treating it as a density understated tonnage by about 24%. The square-yards page had it right, which is how the conflict surfaced. All affected examples were recalculated at 145 lb/ft³ and the two units are now explained on each page instead of both being quoted without comment.

Review dates

Every reference table carries the month it was last reviewed. Specifications get reissued, section numbers move and mix designations are retired, so a table with no date on it is a table you cannot trust. Tables are re-checked against their source at least once a year, and sooner when a cited specification is revised.

Prices

Cost figures are treated as the least reliable content on the site and are labelled that way. Binder tracks the crude market, haulage often dominates the delivered price, and a quote in one county can differ sharply from one 50 miles away. Prices here are indicative, dated, and intended only as a sanity check against a quote you already hold.

Corrections

If a number is wrong, tell us: info@bitumencalc.com. A specific report — the page, the figure, and what you believe it should be — gets fixed fastest. We aim to respond within two working days.

Substantive corrections to a technical value are noted on the page rather than made silently, and the review date is updated. Typographical fixes are not logged.

How this site makes money

Advertising, and nothing else. There is no paid placement in any calculator, no affiliate arrangement with a supplier or contractor, and no advertiser has any say over a default value, a recommendation or a mix comparison. If that ever changes it will be disclosed here first. See the privacy policy for how advertising cookies work and the disclaimer for the limits of what these tools do.

Last updated July 2026.