New Jersey Elementary School

Challenge

In a project recently delivered by National Ramp, we partnered with a New Jersey elementary school facing a very familiar challenge. With an aging building to contend with, the school’s existing concrete stairwell had degraded, creating significant safety concerns. This, combined with no reliable ADA-compliant path into the building presented a number of challenges. Access was to be provided at more than one entrance as a single coordinated system, working the same way at any point visitors would use to get in.

Beyond meeting these challenges, any access solution would have to integrate within the constraints of an active, well-used site: concrete building curbs, existing downspouts and multiple transitions between structural sections, all sitting directly in the path of where new access needed to go.

Solution

Following coordination with general contractors to remove the degraded concrete stairs, National Ramp replaced them with a complex prefabricated aluminum deck system. The finished systems – including one ADA-compliant ramp and two separate sets of stairs – connected multiple entrances within a single, unified structure. This approach tied together multiple elements, rather than installing them as isolated fixes at each entrance. 

The work involved in this project sets itself apart from typical single-entrance ramp installations. Instead of encountering a different access solution at every door, staff, students and visitors would move between entrances on a code-compliant, consistent deck. Additionally, facilities teams would benefit from now having one system to maintain rather than several unrelated ones.

Engineering Around Site Conditions

As with many school buildings across the United States, no clean slate was available for access improvements. This New Jersey elementary school was no exception, with downspouts, concrete curbs and brick transitions needing to be worked around without comprising the path of compliance of the completed deck.

National Ramp’s aluminum walkway system was fully field-customized to respond to each of those challenges directly. While cantilevered platforms would extend the deck over any obstructions, field-specific cutouts were constructed around downspouts and corners so the finished structure would meet the building seamlessly. This was a system that would read as being built for the site as opposed to being adapted after the fact.

The Result

The finished system yielded significant results. The school now benefits from an access solution that’s both low-maintenance and durable, integrating within the existing architecture rather than sitting apart from it. The specification of aluminum materials ensures the school isn’t faced with repainting, resealing or the ongoing and often costly repair cycle that accompanies deteriorating concrete.

Most importantly, every entrance the system serves now offers safe, ADA-compliant access where a failing staircase stood before.

Why This Approach Works for Schools

Prefabricated aluminum systems answer many of the challenges faced by schools and other learning facilities, from multiple entrances requiring the same access standard to budgetary constraints and daily schedules that can’t be disrupted:

• Rapid turnaround: Components are prefabricated, greatly shortening the time an active school has building activity underway.
• One consistent standard A connected multi-entrance system with one commercial ramp & stair specification can be applied consistently across a site, instead of being negotiated separately at every door.
• Low-maintenance profile: Aluminum requires lower long-term upkeep – a significant benefit for facilities budget planning years ahead.

Access Now: Start Your School Access Project

If any of the access challenges seen in this project sound familiar to your school, our team can review your building and recommend a system built around it. National Ramp can provide CAD drawings and site-specific quote packets to support planning and approval, and installation is handled by our nationwide network of certified teams.