Concrete Curb and Gutter Explained
Concrete curb and gutter is a single poured section that combines a raised curb with a flat gutter pan, and installed it runs about $8 to $24 per linear foot. The curb is the vertical or sloped edge that keeps traffic on the pavement. The gutter is the flat trough at its base that catches stormwater and carries it along the road to a drain inlet. Pouring them as one unit gives you a clean flow line and a stronger edge than a curb poured on its own.
You see it everywhere: along city streets, around subdivision roads, at the edges of commercial parking lots, and across driveway aprons where a lot meets the street. Below is what the cross-section looks like, the main types, how crews form it, and how to figure the concrete for a run.
What the cross-section looks like
A curb and gutter section is basically two shapes stuck together: a flat pan sitting on the subgrade, and a curb standing up along its back edge. Most residential and municipal sections share the same rough proportions.
- Curb height: usually 6 inches above the gutter line. Some barrier sections go to 8 inches; low-profile and mountable curbs sit closer to 4 inches.
- Gutter pan width: commonly 18 to 24 inches, measured from the face of the curb out to where the pan meets the pavement. Two feet is the workhorse width.
- Section thickness: the pan is typically 6 to 8 inches thick, matching or slightly exceeding the adjacent pavement.
- Curb width: the curb block itself is usually 6 to 8 inches wide at the base.
The gutter pan is not dead flat. It slopes slightly toward the curb face (often around 1 inch of fall across the pan) so water tracks the flow line instead of pooling on the road.
Types of curb and gutter
There are two curb faces that matter, plus the standard drawings that spell out the exact geometry.
Barrier curb has a steep, near-vertical face. It is meant to discourage vehicles from leaving the roadway and to protect sidewalks and landscaping. This is the default on most through streets and commercial frontage.
Mountable curb, also called rolled curb and gutter, has a rounded or sloped face a car can drive over without scraping. Subdivisions use it constantly because it lets homeowners pull into any driveway without a formed apron, and it is friendlier to snowplows. The tradeoff is less of a barrier and slightly worse channeling of heavy stormwater.
The precise shape you build comes from a state DOT standard drawing, not from guesswork. Virginia's CG-6 is one of the most referenced combined curb and gutter details in the country, and Texas publishes its own CCCG-21 standard for concrete curb and gutter. Cities and states label their sections differently (Type A, Type B, CG-6, and so on), but they all define the same handful of dimensions. The Los Angeles Street Design Manual, for example, notes that concrete gutter is normally built 2 feet wide. Always pull the local standard before you form anything, because inspectors sign off against that drawing.
| Type | Curb face | Typical curb height | Typical gutter pan width | Where you see it |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Barrier curb and gutter | Steep, near-vertical | 6 to 8 in | 18 to 24 in | Main streets, commercial lots |
| Mountable / rolled | Sloped or rounded | 4 to 6 in | 12 to 24 in | Subdivisions, residential streets |
| Low-profile / ribbon | Low or flush | 2 to 4 in | 12 to 24 in | Parking lots, light-duty edges |
| DOT standard (CG-6, Type A/B) | Per state drawing | 6 in typical | 24 in typical | Public roadway work |
How contractors form and slipform it
There are two ways to build it: hand forming and slipforming.
Hand-formed work uses a back form, a front form, and a face form set to a string line, then the crew places, screeds, and hand-finishes the concrete. It is slower and needs more lumber or steel forms, but it is the practical choice for short runs, tight radii, tie-ins, and repairs. Guides on curb construction like Construction Mentor describe setting a highly visible string line first so the flow line stays true.
Slipforming (also called extruding) runs a machine that carries a stainless mold and squeezes out finished curb and gutter as it crawls along a string line. The mix is stiff, usually a 1 to 2 inch slump, so the section holds its own shape the moment it leaves the mold. According to Construction Mentor, the ready-mix truck moves alongside the paver, and workers float, broom, and cure the curb right behind the machine. Slipforming gives straighter edges, less form work, and much higher production on long straight runs, which is why every big road job uses it. Equipment ranges from full GOMACO pavers down to compact machines, as the Curb Roller overview of methods lays out.
Whichever method you use, the subgrade has to be compacted and to grade first. Curb and gutter is only as straight and durable as the base under it.
How to calculate the concrete
The math is simpler than the shape looks. Break the cross-section into a rectangle plus whatever extra shapes make up the curb, find the cross-sectional area in square feet, multiply by the length in feet, then divide by 27 to get cubic yards.
Steps:
- Work in inches, then convert. Split the section into a rectangle (the pan and base) and a second rectangle or triangle (the curb standing above the pan).
- Find each area in square inches and add them.
- Divide the total by 144 to convert to square feet of cross-section.
- Multiply by the run length in feet to get cubic feet.
- Divide by 27 for cubic yards, then add about 10 percent for waste, spillage, and subgrade irregularity.
Worked example. Say you have a standard section: a base pan 24 inches wide and 6 inches thick, with a curb 6 inches wide standing 6 inches above the pan.
- Pan area: 24 in x 6 in = 144 sq in
- Curb area: 6 in x 6 in = 36 sq in
- Total cross-section: 180 sq in ÷ 144 = 1.25 sq ft
For a 100-foot run:
- 1.25 sq ft x 100 ft = 125 cubic feet
- 125 ÷ 27 = 4.63 cubic yards
Add 10 percent and you would order about 5 cubic yards. Real DOT sections shave a little off with a battered curb face and the gutter slope, so treat this as a slightly conservative number, which is exactly what you want when ordering.
If you would rather skip the hand math, run your dimensions through the concrete curb and gutter calculator. Enter the pan width, curb height, section thickness, and total length, and it returns cubic yards, bag counts, and an estimated cost. For a plain curb with no gutter pan, use the concrete curb calculator instead.
Cost per linear foot
Installed curb and gutter runs about $8 to $24 per linear foot, based on 2026 pricing from BuildX. That breaks down roughly to $4 to $11 in materials, $3 to $8 in labor, and the rest in supplies, equipment, and disposal. Where you land in the range depends on the section size, total length, site access, and how much removal of old curb is involved.
Short runs cost more per foot than long ones. Setting up forms or mobilizing a slipform machine costs about the same whether you pour 40 feet or 400, so that fixed cost gets spread thin on big jobs and hits hard on small ones. Removal and haul-off of broken curb, tight radii, and driveway transitions all push the number up too. For a fuller cost breakdown and estimating tips, see the concrete curb hub, the guide to curb types, and the walkthrough on how to pour a curb.
Sources
Frequently asked questions
What is the difference between a curb and a curb and gutter?
A curb is just the raised edge. Curb and gutter adds a flat pan at the base of that edge, poured as one section, to channel stormwater along the flow line to a drain. Curb and gutter handles drainage; a plain curb mostly does not.
What is the standard size of curb and gutter?
A common section is a 6-inch curb over a gutter pan 18 to 24 inches wide, with the section 6 to 8 inches thick. Exact dimensions come from your state DOT standard drawing (for example VDOT's CG-6 or a local Type A or B section).
What is rolled curb and gutter?
Rolled, or mountable, curb has a sloped or rounded face that vehicles can drive over. Subdivisions use it so cars can enter driveways anywhere without a formed apron. Barrier curb, with its steep face, is the alternative when you want a firmer edge.
How much concrete do I need for curb and gutter?
Find the cross-sectional area in square feet, multiply by the length in feet, and divide by 27 for cubic yards. A standard 24-inch section with a 6-inch curb works out to about 1.25 square feet of cross-section, or roughly 4.6 cubic yards per 100 feet before waste. The curb and gutter calculator does it automatically.
How much does curb and gutter cost per linear foot?
About $8 to $24 per linear foot installed in 2026, with materials near $4 to $11 and labor near $3 to $8 of that. Small jobs sit at the high end because setup costs get spread over fewer feet.
Can curb and gutter be slipformed for a small residential job?
Usually not economically. Mobilizing a slipform machine only pays off on longer runs, so short residential or repair sections are almost always hand formed to a string line.