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Posted by Bob Morrison on December 8, 2006, 1:02 pm
In a previous post RicodJour wrote...
> T. C. Conde wrote:
> > I am in California.
> >
> > I need to build a series of Wheelchair ramps out of wood. I am using
> > pressure treated wood for all the posts and cross supports, but what is the
> > preferred wood for the decking? I need a non-slip surface so i don't want to
> > use an AstroTurf-glued-to-plywood as I have seen. 5/4 Redwood? Any other
> > ideas?
>
> For heavy use, harder woods are preferable, and redwood and cedar are
> relatively soft. They'd work, but they'd tend to splinter with heavy
> use. PT wood is southern yellow pine which is a fairly hard wood, but
> the pressure treatment makes the wood prone to checking (looks like
> cracks, but they're not structurally significant) and it shrinks a fair
> bit. It's still the most common wood for ramp decking. Ipe
> (pronounced eepay), and known by other names, is a very hard wood that
> looks good and will outlast all of the others.
> http://www.austinwholesaledecking.com/ipe_general_information.htm
> That'd be my first choice for hitting the sweet spot of affordability,
> durability and wearability.
>
> If your ramps won't experience a lot of traffic, redwood is harder than
> cedar, and since you're in California I'd imagine it would cost less
> than it does here in NY.
>
Rico's recommendation of IPE for wood decking is a good one. The
wood/plastic composites like Trex and CorrectDeck have excellent slip
resistance. These require less maintenance than wood, but are more
expensive.
--
Bob Morrison, PE, SE
R L Morrison Engineering Co
Structural & Civil Engineering
Poulsbo WA
bob at rlmorrisonengr dot com
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