Rock Ramp: Gabion Ramp Prototype

In much of the world, ramps outside of buildings that allow persons with mobility limitations to negotiate topographic grade changes are most often made of reinforced concrete. The railing systems for these concrete ramps are usually expensive manufactured components made of steel or aluminum. Skilled labor is required to construct the formwork for the concrete ramps, to place the reinforcing, and to pour and finish the concrete. Often, trained welders or mechanics are needed to install the railings. This project began as a search for an alternative, more affordable method to create accessibility ramps—a method that would not require skilled labor.

Our intention was to find and share an open source system for constructing ramps that could be used by individual homeowners, municipalities, schools, church congregations, small business owners, or anyone who needed an affordable alternative to the typical contractor-built concrete ramps. This ramp system is also applicable in parts of the world without access to railing components or skilled construction labor. The “do-it-yourself” Rock Ramp system we created utilizes gabions (wire baskets filled with rocks) to both form the edges of the ramp and to stabilize the necessary topographic changes, eliminating the need for elaborate formwork or skilled masons to create retaining walls.

While the most expedient way to create the ramp surface is to use poured concrete, our ramp system also allows for the use of alternative “low tech” materials, such as precast pavers or flagstone to create the traffic-bearing ramp surface. Using precast or stone pavers eliminates the need for expertise in pouring and finishing concrete. In addition, the vertical supports for the ramp handrails can be wood posts, or metal angles, channels, or pipes embedded into the rock-filled gabions. Depending on local building codes and available materials, the ramp handrails can be made of metal, wood, bamboo, or even rope.

It is also possible to add soil to the gabion side walls of the ramp, and then to plant vines, flowers, or other types of plant materials on the tops and sides of the gabions. This creates a “green wall” effect, lessoning the visual impact of the steel wire gabion baskets.

A prototype gabion-based ramp section was created on the Penn State University campus by Ryan Lo, and undergraduate architecture student, and Dan Willis, a professor of architecture at Penn State. The gabion baskets for the prototype were donated by Gabion 1 (www.gabion1.com), a manufacturer of gabion baskets based in Hesperia, California, USA.

The Rock Ramp system is intended to be available at no cost to anyone as an open source construction method. The system can currently be found on Professor Willis’s faculty web page (https://stuckeman.psu.edu/faculty/daniel-willis).

Centre House Access Ramp

This project was undertaken on a volunteer basis for the Centre House homeless shelter. I led a group of senior engineering students who designed this ramp as their senior “capstone project” for Penn State’s College of Engineering. The actual ramp was built by a contractor hired by Centre House. The ramp allowed the rear entrance to the building to be accessible. The railing design coordinates with the front porch design, which was part of another project, the Centre House Porch Renovation. 

Modular Ramp

This was also a Penn State Learning Factory project for senior engineering students. The task was to design a simple modular wheelchair ramp that homeowner’s could easily assemble out of a “kit of parts.” The intention was that the parts could be ordered online, such as through Amazon.com, and that the assembly would be simple enough for most homeowners to accomplish themselves, without the need to hire a contractor to install the ramp. Although the students’ design and prototype was recognized with a prize at the Learning Factory Showcase in April 2016, the final design remains unfinished. It is my hope to eventually develop this system so that it might be manufactured.