Pipe Weight Calculator

Where the 10.69 comes from

The metal in a pipe wall is a ring: area = π × (OD − t) × t, which is π/4 × (OD² − ID²) written short, with ID = OD − 2t. Weight per foot is that area times the density times 12 inches. FHWA’s steel girder design example lists Steel density: Ws = 0.490kcf, so 490 lb/ft³ or 0.2836 lb/in³ (7,849 kg/m³ in metric). Multiply the constants and 12 × π × 490 ÷ 1,728 = 10.6901: the 10.69 of the trade formula is density arithmetic, not a fitted coefficient.

The example: π × (4.5 − 0.237) × 0.237 = 3.174 sq in, × 0.2836 × 12 = 10.8006 lb/ft; the short formula gives 10.8004. Cross-check: MIL-HDBK-5J lists AISI 1025 carbon steel at 0.284 lb/in³, which makes the constant 10.7065, 0.15 % heavier. The sheet keeps FHWA’s figure and prints the handbook’s here only. Open the FHWA example.

OD and wall come off the spec sheet

Type the outside diameter and the wall of the pipe you actually have. A nominal size is a name, not a measurement, and the wall depends on what was ordered. Pipe dimensions are published in ASME B36.10M, a paid standard this sheet links and does not copy: read yours off the mill certificate or the supplier’s spec sheet. 4.5 in by 0.237 in is an example, not a claim about any size. The sheet refuses a wall thicker than half the OD; at exactly half it computes a solid bar, and a 2 in bar gives π sq in and 10.6901 lb/ft, the constant itself.

Stainless, aluminum, or the density you type

Three materials carry a sourced density. Stainless 316 / 316L uses NIST’s measured 7,904 kg/m³ (± 25) on its 316L reference material: the example becomes 10.88 lb/ft. Aluminum 6061 uses MIL-HDBK-5J’s 0.098 lb/in³: 3.73 lb/ft, 35 % of the carbon steel figure. For anything else, pick “Other” and type the density from its supplier or its standard; no default is offered. The metal area stays 3.174 sq in whatever the material, so the weight moves in step with the density.

Full of water: the load on the hangers

A pipe in service carries its contents, and the supports hold both. Tick “Full of water” and the sheet fills the bore: π/4 × 4.026² = 12.730 sq in at USGS’s 62.424 lb/ft³, 5.5186 lb/ft. The example goes from 10.80 to 16.32 lb/ft, 51 % more, and one 20 ft piece from 216.01 to 326.38 lb. 62.424 is the 39.2 °F row, the densest water in the table; at 60 °F it reads 62.366, 0.09 % less, so the sheet errs heavy. Metric uses the same row’s 1.00000 g/cm³: 114.3 by 6.02 mm carries 8.213 kg/m of water. The toggle adds a support load, never an order weight.

Pieces, total and your price per pound

Type one piece’s length and the number of pieces. A 6.625 in OD with a 0.280 in wall weighs 18.99 lb/ft; 21 ft pieces weigh 398.83 lb each and five of them 1,994.17 lb, the order quantity. Type $1.10 per pound, an example and not a market price, and the cost reads $2,193.59. In metric the field asks dollars per kilogram and reads it back to the cent. The takeoff prints every line with its arithmetic, and the CSV carries the same lines.

One form, imperial or metric

The unit switch rewrites the diameter, the wall, the piece length, a typed density and the price in place, on the same form. In metric the example opens at 114.3 by 6.02 mm and 6 m: 16.0735 kg/m and 96.44 kg. Stainless 316 at 60.3 by 3.91 mm, four 6 m pieces: 5.4749 kg/m and 131.40 kg. A density typed in g/cm³ equals the lb/in³ figure times 27.6799.

What the weight leaves out

The result is bare pipe: no coating, lining, insulation, fittings or flanges, and a wall of even thickness all round. The sheet weighs the wall you type, so if the mill certificate gives a measured wall, type that one. It gives no pressure rating either: tpsfamilyco.com bundles Barlow’s formula on its page, and that is another calculation. The section is drawn to scale from your OD and wall, both diameters dimensioned and the wall called out, with the bore hatched when the pipe is full; the elevation draws one piece to its length. Both redraw as you type.

What the six measured pages do

We read the six pages ranking for this search on September 26, 2026. Three of them, naspd.com, pipeindustries.com and tpsfamilyco.com, print 10.69 × (OD − t) × t without saying where the constant comes from. naspd.com runs imperial and metric as two separate forms; maiak-m.bg is metric only; omnicalculator.com offers nine materials and a count of pieces; onlinemetals.com offers twelve materials and answers in pounds. None of the six fills the pipe with water, prices the order, draws the section to scale or exports a CSV.

Frequently asked

How do I calculate the weight of a pipe?

Metal area times density times length. Area = π × (OD − t) × t; in carbon steel a foot weighs 10.69 × (OD − t) × t lb. 4.5 in by 0.237 in: 10.80 lb/ft, 216.01 lb for 20 ft.

How much does a 16 inch pipe weigh per foot?

It depends on the wall. In carbon steel, if its OD is 16.000 in: with a 0.375 in wall, 62.64 lb/ft; with a 0.500 in wall, 82.85 lb/ft. Both walls are examples: read yours off the spec sheet.

How much does 20 inch pipe weigh per foot?

If its OD is 20.000 in and the wall is 0.375 in, an example, carbon steel weighs 78.67 lb/ft.

How much does a 14 inch pipe weigh per foot?

If its OD is 14.000 in, with an example 0.375 in wall: 54.62 lb/ft in carbon steel.

Sheet P-101 prepared by TakeoffMetric Editorial; no author, credential or field measurement is claimed.