Ramps - Erindale Pond

Continuing the series on ramps, we will take a look at one of the urban ramps I have encountered multiple times. The one pictured above leads up from the Erindale pond in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. The path around the pond is quality asphalt, reasonably level with only a few instances of lips where the building materials transition between concrete, paving stones or asphalt. The tricky part comes when you need to climb up from the shoreline to get back to your vehicle or where you came from.

Often a photo does not accurately represent the grade of a ramp and I fear that this photo is one of those, despite my best efforts. This ramp is reasonably steep for an urban setting but it is very long and without any level portions where a rest might be appropriate. Other techniques, such as allowing a wheel to back into the landscape tie at the side of the ramp, can work when a rest is needed, however, often there are no options like this and the only alternative is to turn your wheelchair sideways to lessen the effort needed to prevent rolling back down the ramp. The biggest problem with this sideways parking technique is the energy it takes to get straightened out and resume climbing.

I mention that this ramp is a reasonable grade for an urban setting. Far too often when new strip malls or other buildings have their parking lots paved the grade of the slope leading to either a concrete curb cut or the ramp leading into the building is ridiculously steep. For whatever reason, our home builder told us that they legally could not build my ramp in the garage because it would be a grade of 1:10, 1:12 being legal for a public building. This was our own private dwelling. The number of parking lots I see with ridiculously steep slopes before you actually reach the curb cut, sidewalk, or ramp to the building's front door are ridiculous. Situations like this display thoughtless guideline compliance without any common sense.

Thankfully, regardless of a slope's grade, devices such as hill climber brakes exist and can be used to grab your wheels so you cannot roll backwards. Those will be examined in the future.

We are thankful that these ramps exist, as opposed to simply being stairs, but improper implementation makes them less effective in building a barrier free community.

Source: Urban settings and do not be afraid to contact your city counselor if there are blatant problems with a local ramp, be it the condition of the building materials, the grade or transitions from level ground to the ramp or the ramp to the surface at the top.