Hi everyone,
I actually have a challenge for all/any you problem-solvers out there.
I need to design a ramp going down 2m to the garage (the house is 0.5m above the ground), on a 13x9.5m area. The ramp is 2.75m wide, snapped to the right-most part of the terrain. Anyone available to sketch a quick design for a solution to this challenge? Here’s a template: base-house-garage-ramp.skp (174.6 KB)
Thanks in advance!
Your base drawing looks like this:
Where is the ramp to go? Straight, curved, helical…?
I can’t work it out without more information. Could you put a text label on each edge to mark the start and finish? And perhaps draw an opening for the garage, and mark the exit to the street?
Hi John,
thanks for your answer, I appreciate the help!
The ramp starts on the wall’s opening and follows longitudinally along the house. I’ve started by providing a small amount of information, so I wouldn’t bias your solution.
This is the basic drawing so far (see image below). Please note that the ramp can go straight, then curve. Or just straight. Hence the challenge 
The space seems tight for a considerable car (e.g. large estate) to turn left and we cannot take area from the house. Also, another aspect, is how steep the ramp will become - if the longitudinal length is too short, there will be a lot of effort for a car to go up.
Impossible. If you have a very small car, you can make do with about 6.5 m to make a 90° turn. You have 3m. It depends on your local code how steep your ramp can be - in our parts 1:10 is considered the steepest so you would need a 20 m long ramp to go down 2 m from the street level. Additionally, the start and end of the ramp must be rounded so your car won’t get stuck in the middle, and you must have a level area about the length of the car between the ramp and the street.
Jokes aside, there is no chance of making that turn at the bottom of the driveway. About the only hope I see for reasonable approach and departure angles that a car might be able to negotiate would be one long ramp with only a transition at the top and no turn. Keep the car parked at the driveway angle to avoid a lower transition and make a shallower top one. Cover the carport above the driveway, put a deck out there on top. Have a standard entrance door at the lower level for accessing the car in the rain. Move the main entrance walkway next the driveway, to make the angle as small as possible the driveway would start to slant at the street. Funky but functional.
A platform on tracks, lineal actuators, totally doable, totally impractical. Interesting concept though.
Thanks everyone - given the difficulty, I was expecting some “tables to be turned” by the folks here. Also, sometimes, crazy ideas lead to good ideas.
I was able to force a solution as seen below, which required bending the inner wall - still, its quite tight for a car to turn, it will require several manoeuvres:
