I have been trying for about a week to find information about this: I am designing a fire station whose site is on the side of a hill. Right now I have a change in elevation of 2 feet between the apparatus floor and the road, with a distance of 42.25 feet. Which gives me about a 4.7% grade.
Is this too steep of a driveway for a 50' long ladder truck to fly out of? My concern is bottoming out when hitting the horizontal. Do I need transition ramps? How long do they need to be? I can't find any information on this subject in regulations, or codes. The fire truck manufacturers refuse to tell me too.
In NY we have something called a CCD1 - Construction Code Determination. You basically attach a drawing and your question and the commissioner says yes or no. Additionally, the FDNY reviews all similar conditions and will comment on project-specific issues. Contact your local fire department, not the fire truck manufacturers! Do you have the specs of the trucks? You can also consult a transportation engineer...
Cut a section through the grade. Cut a section through the fire truck (all you need is wheelbase length and clearance. nothing fancy). See if you can make the fire truck bottom out on the cresting point.
I'd be willing to be you will have more of a problem with overhead clearances.
I did a fire station addition where they had a truck that was too tall for their existing station. The drop from structure to road was about 8 feet, in 70 horizontal feet. Put on your big boy/girl pants and figure it out.
Apr 23, 19 8:20 am ·
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Sloping Fire Station Apron
I have been trying for about a week to find information about this: I am designing a fire station whose site is on the side of a hill. Right now I have a change in elevation of 2 feet between the apparatus floor and the road, with a distance of 42.25 feet. Which gives me about a 4.7% grade.
Is this too steep of a driveway for a 50' long ladder truck to fly out of? My concern is bottoming out when hitting the horizontal. Do I need transition ramps? How long do they need to be? I can't find any information on this subject in regulations, or codes. The fire truck manufacturers refuse to tell me too.
it's 7.75 feet too short - per your own query.
how can someone so inexperienced be charged with fire truck clearances?
In NY we have something called a CCD1 - Construction Code Determination. You basically attach a drawing and your question and the commissioner says yes or no. Additionally, the FDNY reviews all similar conditions and will comment on project-specific issues. Contact your local fire department, not the fire truck manufacturers! Do you have the specs of the trucks? You can also consult a transportation engineer...
An Evaluation of the Maximum Uphill and Downhill Grades for Low Clearance Vehicles
Lastly, check out the International Fire Code Section D103.2 Grade; and here's another: http://plfr.org/about-plfr/docs/PLFR-Fire-Apparatus-Access-Requirements.pdf
Most codes and regulations give you a maximum slope; if that maximum is exceeded you need to talk to your local fire marshal.
Cut a section through the grade. Cut a section through the fire truck (all you need is wheelbase length and clearance. nothing fancy). See if you can make the fire truck bottom out on the cresting point.
I'd be willing to be you will have more of a problem with overhead clearances.
I did a fire station addition where they had a truck that was too tall for their existing station. The drop from structure to road was about 8 feet, in 70 horizontal feet. Put on your big boy/girl pants and figure it out.
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