What is a yard of concrete, fill dirt, gravel, etc.? Well a yard is actually a cubic yard of whatever material. That is like saying I have a box that is three feet wide, three feet long, and three feet deep of some material.
How is this used in construction? This is usually used to determine the volume of construction material needed (that is dirt, concrete, sand etc.). It is also used as a minimum volume, and volume of measurement by most concrete – fill distributors. To attain the yard measurement usually it is easiest to convert the inches into feet then the feet into yards then multiply. For example: I have a 35′ side walk that is 4″ thick and 3′ wide. To find the cube of something you will need to take Height(h) X Width(w) X Length(l) I start by changing 4″ to feet _ 4in/12in = .3333ft thick _ then to yards .3333/3 = .1111yds thick. Do the same with the width 3/3 = 1yd wide. Length measurement is 35/3 = 11.667yds long. Now h x w x l = yards cubed = .1111 x 1 x 11.667 = 1.296 cu. yds. Now I would call the concrete company and ask for 2 yards of concrete (most concrete manufacturers will not supply half a yard of concrete). You will very likely have to do something with the extra concrete when you are finished, but extra is good. I usually add about 10 percent over on my concrete jobs, because of unevenness in the form and it is much easier to deal with the extra concrete than to fix a small patch of concrete.

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