Which is it — $400, or $4,000 per ramp? Shotgun’s estimate seems more reasonable. But, what’s reason got to do with it?
Is this a case of government spending run amok, or is it simply another example of the rampant innumeracy in the media?
400.00 per “ramp”for the single purchase on one bumpy plate ... Yah, know, we used to work realllll hard to make smooth sidewalks and REMOVE cobblestone streets ....
The 4,000.00 per ramp is to INSTALL (hire the bureaucrat(s) to run the program, hire the companies to install them, inspect the papers, inspect their EPA cert’s, inspect their paint and hazardous material documents, inspect their safety records, inspect their trash disposal, schedule the sidewalks and install their anti-mud barricades and pedestrian curbing/barricades, etc.), plus ripout the old concrete, lift it into trucks, ship it to a dump, get the new forms built, buy the new concrete, ship it in to the sidewalks, pour it, smooth it, graze it, install the bumps, paint it, remove the forms, clean up the debris, etc.
$4000.00 per ramp ain't bad when you consider how much it takes to “administrate” the programs that only buy a little bit of material.
It probably SHOULD cost $400 but you know how things are with government contractors. When I’ve seen them getting put in here step 1 is to not only tear out the old sidewalk and curb but also a couple of feet of road. So now you have to replace concrete and tar, and because there’s a hole in the road you have to direct traffic away from the lane, so you need a bunch of pylons... it’s really easy to add a zero to the cost when you do things the government way.
Just to clarify, my cost is for the same work out here in eastern Washington State, and the tactile inserts cost about $400 per ramp. To upgrade to ADA standard you need to replace the entire concrete panel middle panel of the ramp. There are actually three parts to the ramp, the wings (on on either side) and the ramp which is also called the landing.
You have to figure in removal of existing sidewalk, traffic control, new concrete, tactile panels, mobilization (bonding costs and permits) and re prepping the base rock under the slab. Typical city ramp should cost no more than $1500 each, and the more you have and the proximity to each other the cheaper it will be.
Other cost to consider would be if the sidewalk and curb/gutter were poured together (monolithic) which may require pouring the curb and gutter first, then pouring the sidewalk later. It there is a catch basin in the gutter pan than that has to be figured in as well.
But if this is in Philly than the cement finshers union is propably tacking on their sprecial fees...