Effective & lightweight solutions for transportation gaps

There are gaps that exist between many different kinds of transportation vehicles and often the gap is eliminated/mitigated by placing a bridgeplate between the vehicle and surface a guest, passenger or customer may be waiting. A typical bridgeplate may be constructed out of aluminum, steel, fiberglass or other material. Most bridgeplates are required to be not less than 32 inches (clear width) wide, while the length of the bridgeplate can be a function of the vertical differential between the vehicle and the surface used for boarding. As the length of the bridgeplate increases the weight of the brigdeplate increases which can make carrying or deploying the bridgeplate much more difficult for staff. The guest, passenger and customer can also be impacted when a staff member is asked to carry a heavy and often hard to manage bridgeplate. In addition, the size and weight of occupied wheeled mobility devices is increasing and as a result the new ADA requirements for transportation vehicles is increasing a bridgeplate or ramp capacity to 800 LB load with a safety factor of 3X or 2400 LB load capacity. When using aluminum, steel or even fiberglass the increased weight can be accommodated but the weight of the bridgeplate can easily exceed more than what one person can carry or manage by themselves.

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Please Check out my OpEd on Compositesworldmagazine.com

Bridgeplate and Ramps