Evaluation of Curb Ramp Compliance: Review of Tools, Methods, and Time to Develop Error Tolerances

This research enables Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) to reliably and systematically evaluate the methods and tools used in the inspection process to achieve successful Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) compliance by: (1) Investigating alternative technologies used for ADA compliance assessments such as laser scanning; (2) Developing an Oregon State University (OSU) database of existing and newly-constructed curb ramps, acquiring measurements over time using several tools and methods to determine their precision and repeatability; (3) Identifying the best combination(s) of tools and methods to achieve higher precision and reproducibility but still maintain efficiency and cost-effectiveness; (4) Identifying an appropriate overall flatness index measure to assist with the compliance determination when localized outlier variations indicate non-compliance (i.e., outside of existing specified slope limits); and (5) Establishing the expected variance for instruments used to measure the ramps, flatness of the concrete material itself, and movement or settlement of a ramp to determine an industry tolerance for concrete sloped planar surfaces considering the cumulative potential effects from the aforementioned sources. This research will not assess the accuracy of existing measures; rather it will comprehensively evaluate the compliance assessment process for curb ramps to generate best practices for success in increased precision, reproducibility, and compliance.

Language

• English

Project

• Status: Active
• Funding: $295000
• Contract Numbers:

  SPR 844

• Sponsor Organizations:

  Federal Highway Administration

  1200 New Jersey Avenue, SE
  Washington, DC  United States  20590
• Managing Organizations:

  Oregon Department of Transportation

  555 13th Street NE
  Salem, OR  United States  97301
• Project Managers:

  Lazarus, Jon

• Performing Organizations:

  Oregon State University, Corvallis

  101 Kearney Hall
  Corvallis, OR  United States  97331
• Principal Investigators:

  Olsen, Michael

• Start Date: 20200701
• Expected Completion Date: 20231231
• Actual Completion Date: 0
• USDOT Program: Transportation, Planning, Research, and Development

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Compliance; Curbs; Evaluation and assessment; Inspection; Ramps
• Identifier Terms: Americans with Disabilities Act
• Subject Areas: Highways; Pedestrians and Bicyclists; Safety and Human Factors; Society;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01751718
• Record Type: Research project
• Source Agency: Oregon Department of Transportation
• Contract Numbers: SPR 844
• Files: RIP, STATEDOT
• Created Date: Sep 10 2020 12:22PM