Wheelchair Ramp Onto Stage

[PWilliams]

Hi guys,

 

One of the companies I work for is looking for a wheelchair ramp to get onto there stage. The stage is made up on 1 x 1 m pieces, easydeck style. The stage only sits at 300mm of 600mm high. Is there a generic product that can do this that any of you can recommend.

 

Kind regards,

 

Peter

[Jivemaster]

With the DDA now fully implimented all the staging system manufacturers are likely to have ramps available in theis established style. What system are your blocks?

[Malcolm Gordon]

I have just seen the "Rap-a-Ramp" from LMC Audio Systems at PLASA08. It looks ideal for all sorts of problems. Have a look at their News page. It includes a link to download their brochure.

 

It may not be suitable, however, if your ramp is required to have handrails.

 

Malcolm

[dsharp7th]

this may not be what your after, but hiring one of these worked a treat for us when needing to provide wheelchair access to an existing stage where building a ramp wasn't possible. www.mobilewheelchairlift.co.uk

[Neil Hampson]

As hinted at above, speak to the manufacturer of the staging system that you have. We have the Q-Build (Stage Systems) staging and have had a couple of wheelchair ramps for some time. Although to be fair we are yet to use them for wheelchairs and they tend to be incorporated into the set designs between levels. Ours had to be ordered for a particular rise as the angle / lentgh is calculated and the lip that secures it to the frame of the stage is at that fixed angle.

For info, ours have 2 inch 'kick guards', but no provision for a handrail, unlike the rest of the blocks.

[mrshowtime]

You can try http://www.frameset-uk.com/unilite2.asp we have a wheelchair ramp which is uses our own modular staging system, the ramp doesn't have hand rails or kick boards but is perfectly fine for going to 300mm high.

[paulears]

We regularly shove people up a ra-alloy loading ramp to get them up into the auditorium when the real wheelchair lift dies, or we simply have too many to get in in the half an hour between doors and the show. If they need to be able to roll up the ramp on their own, that's very different.

[richard]

I often have to provide DDA compliant ramps for events in Trafalgar Square and there are quite tight guidlines on what should be provided. It does depend on who the user will be and what assistance you will give but a few points to raise are:

 

- The ramp should have a non-slip surface

- The ramp should be a maximum of 1:12 or 1:15 depending on the length and turning points

- There should always be a kick board (this is quite important, even on low ramps)

- There should be a constant handrail - this should be smooth so that partially sighted people can use it to guide themselves.

- The ramp should be a minimum of 1m wide, a maximum of 1.5m

- preferably the ramp and the handrails will be in contrasting colours (usually blue ramp, yellow rails)

 

Obviously not all ramps are like this, but this is what is often thought of as the optimum. I believe a book has just been published with guidance on the construction of temporary ramps for events.

 

I do struggle to find off the shelf ramps that conform, so usually have to get suppliers to build something out of steeldeck or metrodeck which does make it a little expensive