Mapping handicapped accessibility facilities at Ferris State University

1
Mapping handicapped accessibility facilitiesat
Ferris State University

• A surveying engineering approach
• 2006 Class project

2
Handicapped Accessibility Acts

• The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) of
  1990, a major civil rights law prohibiting
  discrimination on the basis of disability,
  establishes design requirements for the
  construction or alteration of facilities.
• ADA covers facilities in the private sector
  (places of public accommodation and commercial
  facilities) and the public sector (state and
  local government facilities).
• The Architectural Barriers Act (ABA) of 1968
  requires access to facilities designed, built,
  altered, or leased with Federal funds. Moreover,
  all developments that contain public facilities,
  such as retail stores, or that rely on federal
  grants, loans, or utilization should provide
  ample accessibility to all pertinent building and
  site facilities, including those for trash
  disposal and mail pickup.

3
History of the Uniform Federal Accessibility
Standards (UFAS)

• The American National Standards Institute (ANSI)
  approved the first national standard for access
  design in 1961, which was designated as ANSI
  A117.1
• The original ANSI A117.1, formed the technical
  basis for the first accessibility standards
  adopted by the Federal Government, and most State
  governments. The 1980 edition of that standard
  was based on research funded by the Department,
  and became the basis for the Uniform Federal
  Accessibility Standards (UFAS), published in the
  Federal Register on August 4, 1984.
• Ref
• Dion T. R. (2002), Land Development for Civil
  Engineers 2nd ed. John Wiley Sons
• Uniform Federal Accessibility Standards (UFAS),
  at http//www.access-board.gov/ufas/ufas-html/ufa
  s.htm
• Architectural Barriers Act of 1968 and Americans
  with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA) at
  http//www.access-board.gov/ada-aba/final.htm

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Fair Housing Accessibility Guidelines

• The Final Fair Housing Accessibility Guidelines
  (FFHAG) apply to new multiple family residential
  buildings.
• The ultimate purpose of ADA and the FFHAG is to
  bring those who have disabilities into the main
  stream American life.
• It establish standards for first floor
  accessibility in multi-family housing, and also
  set standards for interior design to allow
  accessibility within specified number of units
  within the building.
• Ref Fair Housing Accessibility Guidelines at
• http//www.hud.gov/library/bookshelf09/fhefhag.cf
  m or
• http//www.wbdg.org/ccb/ASTAND/house.pdf
• http//www.access-board.gov/
• http//ada.osu.edu/resources/links-facilities.htm
  

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Mapping/data collection of accessible facilities

• The approach of this project will be to follow a
  typical route for a physically handicapped
  persons, this includes
• Parking lot compliance to ADA
• Route from parking lot to building
• Door/entrance to building
• Building corridors and hallway compliance to ADA
• Water closets, and classrooms.

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Parking lot design according to the Uniform
Federal Accessibility Standards (UFAS)

• Provisions for adequate passage and maneuvering
  space to accommodate handicap transit from public
  streets, sidewalks, and passenger loading zones
  to the closest serviceable building access.
• Parking spaces for disabled people (bearing the
  recognized symbol) shall be at least 96 in wide
  and shall have an adjacent access aisle 60 in
  wide minimum

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Parking space according to the Uniform Federal
Accessibility Standards (UFAS)

• The minimum number of designed spaces should be
  according to the following table

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Route to a building according to the UFAS

• At least one accessible route shall connect
  accessible building or facility entrances with
  all accessible spaces and elements within the
  building or facility.
• WIDTH. The minimum clear width of an accessible
  route shall be 36 in (915 mm). If a person in a
  wheelchair must make a turn around an
  obstruction, the minimum clear width of the
  accessible route shall be as shown in the Figure

9
Route to a building according to the UFAS

• Floor and ground surfaces shall be stable, firm,
  and slip resistant.
• Curb ramps shall be provided wherever an
  accessible route crosses a curb.
• The maximum slope of a ramp in new construction
  shall be 112. The maximum rise for any run shall
  be 30 in (760 mm)
• Maximum slopes of adjoining gutters, road surface
  immediately adjacent to the curb ramp, or
  accessible route shall not exceed 1.20

10
Route to and in a building according to the UFAS

• Objects projecting from walls (for example,
  telephones) with their leading edges between 27
  in and 80 in (685 mm and 2030 mm) above the
  finished floor shall protrude no more than 4 in
  (100 mm) into walks, halls, corridors,
  passageways, or aisles

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Doors and the UFAS

• At each accessible entrance to a building or
  facility, at least one door shall comply with
• Doorways shall have a minimum clear opening of 32
  in
• Handles, pulls, latches, locks, and other
  operating devices on accessible doors shall have
  a shape that is easy to grasp with one hand and
  does not require tight grasping, tight pinching,
  or twisting of the wrist to operate
• The maximum force for pushing or pulling open a
  door shall be as follows5 lbf

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Elevator and the UFAS

• Elevator operation shall be automatic. Each car
  shall be equipped with a self-leveling feature
  that will automatically bring the car to floor
  landings within a tolerance of 1/2 in.
• Call buttons in elevator lobbies and halls shall
  be centered at 42 in (1065 mm) above the floor.
• A visible and audible signal shall be provided at
  each hoist way entrance to indicate which car is
  answering a call

13
Drinking Fountains and Water Coolers

• SPOUT HEIGHT. Spouts shall be no higher than 36
  in (915 mm), measured from the floor or ground
  surfaces to the spout outlet.

14
WATER CLOSETS

• Clear floor space for water closets shall comply
  with the Figure below
• Grab bars for water closets shall comply with the
  Figure below

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Ferris State University

• Ferris State University was founded in 1884 by
  Woodbridge N. Ferris, a senator and politician of
  the State of Michigan, as a private industrial
  school, became a 4-year school in 1963, and
  received university status in 1987.
• Number of Students 12,547
• Undergraduates gt11,000
• Postgraduates gt1,000
• Ferris State offers more than 170 academic
  programs through the Colleges of Arts Sciences,
  Business, Education Human Services, Allied
  Health Sciences, Optometry, Pharmacy, Technology,
  and the Kendall College of Art Design.
• The Best surveying Engineering Program in the
  world
• Disabilities Services Office of Ferris State
  University at
• http//www.ferris.edu/colleges/university/disabil
  ity/faculty/index.htm

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Physical Facts about Ferris State University

• The facility
• Area of about 840 acres or 3.4 km2
• Includes
• 23 Academic buildings
• 21 Resident Halls/Apartments
• 21 Service Buildings (Sports facilities,
  Administration etc.)
• 50 Parking lots

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Physical Facts about Ferris State University

• The facility
• 3.5 Million Square Feet of Buildings Maintained
• Approximately 100 buildings
• 785 Total Acres
• 435 Acres Maintained
• 330 Acres of Lawn
• 54 Acres of Parking Lots (7,000 Spaces)
• 30 Acres of Side Walks (23 Miles)
• 21 Acres of Trees, Shrubs,
• Flower Beds
• 4.3 Miles of Roads
• 1.61 Miles of Underground
• of Utility Tunnels

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The Cartography of Accessibility Maps, map
design and symbology

• Legend
• Accessible Route
• Parking for the handicapped
• Elevator for the handicapped
• Toilet for a wheelchair
• Accessible/Inaccessible building

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Project procedures 1

• Here are the proposed steps to carry out the
  mapping of handicapped facilities
• 28 students in the class- 14 groups each group
  will collect information about 4 buildings and 3
  parking lots.
• In the lab
• Compile all the datasets including buildings and
  road of the university
• Using the digital map we will create and edit a
  layer of parking lots as closed polygons
• Using the orthophotographs, count the number of
  parking spaces per each parking lot and identify
  the closest parking lot to any building, draw a
  tentative route.
• Prepared and plot field maps of your group
  project area

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Project procedures 2

• In the field
• Identify the handicapped spaces of the parking
  lot and mark them on the map, measure with
  handheld GPS
• Walk along the tentative route and examine it for
  ramps/slopes/stairs etc. to make sure it is
  accessible
• Examine the entrance to the building, mark it on
  the map and measure
• Identify the elevator and toilet, examine for
  compliance and mark their location on the map.
• Back in the lab
• Insert the as point symbols accessible parking
  lots, entrances, Toilets, elevator,
• Draw with lines the accessible route
• Fill the buildings according to the level of
  accessibility and add comments (e.g., floor 4
  inaccessible)

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Final remarks

• This is a unique project.
• To the best of our knowledge, no other university
  or organization has performed a similar project.
• We hope that this project will set some
  guidelines for handicapped accessibility mapping.
  
• This is a classical GIS project, which include
  data integration, spatial data collection, and
  spatial and attribute data presentation.
• It should be a good learning experience which
  hopefully will yield a useful product.

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Definitions

• Accessible- public or common use areas of a
  building that can be approached, entered, and
  used by individuals with physical handicaps.
• Accessible route- means a continuous
  unobstructed path connecting accessible elements
  and spaces in a building or within a site that
  can be negotiated by a person with a severe
  disability using a wheelchair, and that is also
  safe for and usable by people with other
  disabilities
• Disability - A condition which affects and limits
  an individual in one or more of life's major
  functions which would include walking, hearing,
  seeing, learning, etc.