Road Ramps

Sizing a kerb ramp to the kerb

Measure the vertical face of the kerb before ordering. That figure, the rise, is the only one that matters.

• 100mm, sold as a 4 inch rise: the common footway kerb, and the size most often needed.
• 150mm, sold as a 6 inch rise: higher kerbs, loading bays and raised thresholds.
• 75mm to 125mm: the adjustable footway ramps, which suit a kerb that varies along its length, as most real kerbs do.

A ramp that is too short for the kerb leaves a step at the top, which is the thing you were trying to remove. A ramp that is too tall leaves a lip at the bottom edge instead. Neither is safe for a wheelchair.

What makes a footway ramp usable rather than just present

Three details separate a ramp a wheelchair user can actually cross from one that looks the part.

It must not flex. A ramp that moves under load throws a wheelchair off line and can tip it. The footway ramps here are designed to lie flat against both the ground and the kerb face with no flexing, on a consistent gradient from bottom to top.

It needs a tactile edge. Tapping rails along the sides give a long cane something to find, so a visually impaired pedestrian is guided along the ramp rather than off the side of it. This is the same principle the street works code applies to pedestrian barriers, where a tapping rail is required at the base.

It needs grip in the wet. Moulded anti-slip patterns and grooved treads handle what a painted or smooth surface will not.

One of the footway ramps in this range was developed with the University of East Anglia specifically to address where standard kerb ramps fall short. The lightest are around 12.5kg with built-in handles, so one person can move them between positions during a job.

Load ratings, and the one that catches people out

Kerb access ramps here carry loads over 350kg, enough for wheelchairs, pushchairs, trolleys and light wheeled plant.

The trench covers are different and the difference matters. They are marked at a 400kg maximum and are built for pedestrians and light site traffic. They are not rated for road use. Driving over one is outside what it was made and marked for, whatever it looks capable of.

Building a run wider than one ramp

Kerb ramps link together, so a wide crossing point is made from several rather than from one long unit. The heavy duty kerb ramps at 100mm and 150mm are sold as mid sections and corner pieces, which lets you close the ends of a run properly instead of leaving an open sloped edge for someone to step off.

Order the corners with the mid sections. An unfinished end is the part of the installation that causes the accident.

For traffic calming rather than access, see speed bumps and road humps, and for protecting cables underfoot see cable cover ramps.