Accessible Surface Materials

[Leah Arnason]

Does anyone know of any good surfacing materials for accessibility?  There are two applications I am exploring, an asphalt / paving alternative for trails that are in a floodplain, and a fire resistant surface for adjacent to the fire pit.

[Doug Wright]

Leah – you might consider a crushed 1/2 inch minus mix for the accessible surface adjacent to the fire pit.  This size material (including fines) when compacted seems to hold up under a variety of conditions and pedestrian use.  For materials in a floodplain, are they likely to be under water on a semi-regular basis?  If so, you might consider using an gravel material similar to what I described to avoid costs associated with initial construction and upkeep of asphalt paving. 

[Leah Arnason]

Thank you for your reply, it is a really good suggestion.  I wonder if there is a road crush product in a substantially different color, because part of what we are trying to accomplish is to provide color and or texture contrast between the surface directly next to the fire, for someone who may have some visual impairment.  Any thoughts on this?

[Tosh K]

stone dust and oyster shells?

[Tosh K]

not around fire, but the recycled rubber surfaces are pretty nice – you can also use the gravel ones too (I would think the urethane binder is flammable thought)

[Doug Wright]

I think that you will need to check with your gravel sources and see what they have.  It can vary widely depending on the source material.  I have done something where we used two different colors of gravel to denote parking and pedestrian ways, and while they were two colors, I am not sure how much contrast they provided – would have to be pretty dramatic. Might be kind of hard to provide that contrast with texture, as you are talking about a slight difference in the grade of materials most likely (1/2″ vs. 3/4″).  You might be able to get the contrast using a hardscape type material it would seem.

[Leah Arnason]

It is kind of tough.  I guess we will leave it without colour differentiation, but I had hoped to find a solution, to indicate the hazard for visitors who would have a vision impairment. 

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