A bit of concrete

Today's project was to improve the accessibility of our yard for Anita's electric wheelchair.  A few weeks ago, I concreted a slab across under the gates to stop the dogs wriggling under the gates and getting onto the street.  This made it impossible for Anita to get out with her chair unless I was around to assist, so I made a couple of ramps.  Unfortunately, they were too short and steep due to not having enough concrete left over.  So today I had the extra concrete premix to complete the job.

The idea is to reduce the angle so that the wheelchair can safely cross the gateway.  As the chair reaches the top of the up ramp, it acts a bit like a bulldozer as it tips onto the down ramp.  This is because of the type of chair it is (see the picture)

The angle of the two ramps meeting at the top of the beam under the gate needs to be gentle enough so Anita doesn't get thrown out of her chair as she goes over the crest.  I think I have it now, with each ramp being a metre long to traverse a step 100mm high.  By making the ramps long enough, Anita will now be able to inch her way over, where before with the shorter ramps she had to keep up her momentum.  She said it was just a bit too exciting before as she had to hang on for dear life as the chair lurched over the summit and tried to launch her into the gravel.

If it was our own house, we'd concrete or pave the whole driveway and be done with it.  However, spending that sort of money on a rented house is silly, and while the landlord makes noises about paving the driveway, we'll be long gone before it happens!

Inside the house is pretty wheelchair friendly.  It's just getting into the yard, and then the house that's a bit tricky.  However, with the right ramps in strategic locations, we should be able to manage OK.