Maximum Parking Lot Grades...
Maximum Parking Lot Grades...
(OP)
I have a challenging site fitting a new building & parking between two existing buildings. The best grade I can get on my parking lot grades is 6.5% to 6.9%. I normally use 5.0% as maximum grade in parking lots.
Anyone constructed ~6.9% slopes. How do they work now?
Thank you in advance for your help.
Best Regards
as
Anyone constructed ~6.9% slopes. How do they work now?
Thank you in advance for your help.
Best Regards
as





RE: Maximum Parking Lot Grades...
In general 6.9% is a bit high and will increase your liability as a designer. Work on ways to get it down....consider terraces in grassed areas or similar.
RE: Maximum Parking Lot Grades...
Are retaining walls adjacent to buildings feasible to improve slopes?
RE: Maximum Parking Lot Grades...
If you are dealing with ADA read through their book. You want to keep a 2% max in all directions on an ADA parking stall. There are also the max grade on the paths to the building to consider.
We just did one of these for a car service center and they wanted to use as much existing as possible. That turned out to be very tricky. And you do not want to get caught with the wrong design once the project is built.
B+W Engineering and Design
Los Angeles Civil Engineer and Structural Engineer
http://bwengr.com | http://bwstructuralengineer.com | http://bwcivilengineer.com
RE: Maximum Parking Lot Grades...
It may be acceptable to have a few stalls and drive aisles over a 5% grade, but you need to do something to avoid having the entire parking lot >5%.
RE: Maximum Parking Lot Grades...
In addition to ice issues as noted, you have to be careful of the grade and opening vehicle doors... even without a wind this can be challenging... either opening or closing the door can be a challenge.
Overall, it's a bad idea, and you should be looking at means of mitigating this slope.
Dik
RE: Maximum Parking Lot Grades...
Hydrology, Drainage Analysis, Flood Studies, and Complex Stormwater Litigation for Atlanta and the South East - http://www.campbellcivil.com
RE: Maximum Parking Lot Grades...
Dik
RE: Maximum Parking Lot Grades...
RE: Maximum Parking Lot Grades...
Dik
RE: Maximum Parking Lot Grades...
B+W Engineering and Design
Los Angeles Civil Engineer and Structural Engineer
http://bwengr.com | http://bwstructuralengineer.com | http://bwcivilengineer.com
RE: Maximum Parking Lot Grades...
I am busy designing the platforms for parking and delivery to a new supermarket. I have searched all about the parking slopes etc and see that the consensus is to not exceed 10% on ramps which is fine, but the delivery area is parallel to a road that slopes at 2%.
The trucks will drive into the loading area with the grade, but to get all my levels to tie in (delivery and parking and FFL) i find that the loading apron will slope towards the road at between 7 and 7.5%. Will this be ok for a crossfall for delivery trucks? they will be moving downhill at 2% and across the bay at 7-7.5%
RE: Maximum Parking Lot Grades...
If that is the case, given the width of a truck (about 8.5'), when the truck is sitting at the dock the back left corner will be about 7.5" higher (or lower) than the back right corner. This is not a generally a workable condition. Remember, they'll need to drive a forklift or pallet jack from the dock into the truck and back. If the tail of the truck is not level with the edge of the dock, that will not be possible.
You are probably going to need a retaining wall at one side of the loading berths.
Also, in general, it is best to have the loading berth pitch towards the building, rather than away (in other words, the tail of the truck is lower than the nose). That way, the truck is less likely to roll away from the dock when they drive the forklift onto the trailer.
Also watch out for sharp breaks in grade in truck access areas. If the break in grade is too severe, it is possible for the landing gear on a trailer to catch on the pavement. This can cause the landing gear to break and/or knock the trailer loose from the truck.