Drive way gradient - Advice needed

[Marc-H]

I will appreciate advice on the maximum permissible/desirable gradient for a driveway leading into a basement garage under a house.

[lutonlagerlout]

as shallow as possible,but without seeing the site its hard to say
LLL

[Marc-H]

as shallow as possible,but without seeing the site its hard to say
LLL

My problem is with the Planning Dept. They are concerned about the amount of "earthworks". I'm therefore keen to have the length of the slope as short as possible (for the time being!). The start of the drive is 1m below the ground floor level of the proposed house and I was looking at a ceiling height for the garage at 2.4m after the required fireproofing requirements. The total drive length is 40 mtrs.

[lutonlagerlout]

I,m not an architect,but i know if the ramp is too steep it causes problems,the undercarriage of cars get caught on the crest of the ramp and also it can be a bugger getting out,i used to live near one and i would hazard a guess that the ramp was 1:8 which would give you a ramp length of around 20M

i think you could bear in mind that maybe 400 MM of your roof height could be above road level
you need to speak to your architect really
LLL

[Tony McC]

I'm fairly certain that we have previously installed ramps at 30°. We would have been working to a spec, rather than something I'd drawn up, so you'd need to check with an architect or structural engineer regarding the actual regulations.

From a paving point of view, we can lay on gradients of 60° or more, if necessary, but that doesn't mean they're traffickable!

[TheVictorianCobbleCo]

I've done a 1 in 5 once but it was slippery in winter, and would be much more comfortable in the 1 to 8 region. Your car approach/between wheels clearance is also an important factor, a land rover freelander will tolerate about 30 degrees approach but only 18 degrees over crown, a normal sedan much less.