Building A Ramp

One of my neighbors has Parkinson’s Disease. He gets around on a motorized chair and uses an electric lawn mower around the yard. He is an inspiration, as he does not let his condition stop him. He is more active than most people in spite of the disease. His wife commented one day it would be nice if Jerry had a ramp to get into the backyard. Their backyard is adjacent to the southwest side of the woodland garden.

Ramps are not difficult to build, they just take time and effort. I designed a ramp that would run at an angle up the hill, providing a smooth slope for him to enter the yard.

The first task was to remove a few Oriental Honeysuckle bushes (noxious and invasive) growing in the path. Many decades ago there was a small stone retaining wall holding the hillside. Over the years this had disintegrated until it was no longer visible. I dug stones out of the ground from where they had scattered near the base of the wall.

Having found a good number of stones. I took the largest stones and began to make a small retaining wall to support the ramp. I selected the biggest stones for the bottom – some being almost 2 feet in width. I built up the stones to accommodate the height of the wall, sloping it down to a single large stone at the start of the ramp.

The general outline of the retaining wall was built and I could concentrate on reinforcing it with back-fill. Scattered around m property was some chunks of cement and asphalt. I gathered these and placed a layer behind the stones. This is a good use of old concrete instead of taking it to a landfill. The back-filled area is bigger than the stone wall. In making it larger, than the width of the wall itself, my intention was to help stabilize the wall and the ramp through the extra weight of the back-fill.

Fortunately, my neighbors had a pile of gravel from a project they had done a few years ago. This was small, half inch, granite. I put this on top of the backfill. The gravel is heavier than dirt and should assist with drainage of the ramp. It also makes for a more stable surface.

Digging into the hill, I widened the pathway and disbursed the dirt across the path to make a smooth surface for transport.

The final step was to place rocks on the hill side of the path to keep it in place and form the opposite side of the path. Larger rocks were again placed on the bottom. The soil in this location, with the exception of the first few inches, is hard clay, which should help keep the hill in place.

The most difficult part was moving the stones and the concrete. Everything was accomplished with only a shovel and a wheel barrow. The finished path forms a gradual rise to the backyard. It not only helps my neighbor, but also,looks attractive when seen from the woodland garden. Consequently, my neighbor is happy and so am I!