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/ufas.htm Architectural Barriers Act of 1968 and Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA) at: http://www.access-board.gov/ada-aba/final.htm

4. 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.cfm or http://www.wbdg.org/ccb/ASTAND/house.pdf http://www.access-board.gov/ http://ada.osu.edu/resources/links-facilities.htm

5. 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.

6. 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

7. Parking space according to the Uniform Federal Accessibility Standards (UFAS) The minimum number of designed spaces should be according to the following table:

8. 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 1:12. 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

11. 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 follows:5 lbf

12. 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

15. 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 >11,000 • Postgraduates >1,000 • 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/disability/faculty/index.htm

16. 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

17. 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

18. 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

19. 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

20. 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)

21. 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.

22. 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.