The ADA, American Disabilities Act, has requirements for detectable warning tiles. There are many manufacturers to choose from. There is a great document to read about some of the testing that has been done. This article / draft was written in 2005 and explains some of the differences in the brands and shows different problems that arise. It was prepared for National Cooperative Highway Research Program Transportation Research Board of the National Academies. If you read the research document you will see that even the DWT, Detectable Warning Tiles, need to be maintained. For those who do not want to read the whole document, it has pictures of problems also. Engineered Plastics, the ones that make the Armor-Tile brand, has info on their site where it lists the ADAAG requirements, ADA Accessibility Guidelines. The Armor-Tile site has much more information that is nice to read on some of the requirements. Click here to read ADA Accessibility Guidelines.
The first picture shows one installed. It is an Armor-Tile tile. As you can tell, it can take a coat of paint nicely. The second picture is an Armor-Tile also, but you can tell that it is in need of being maintained, cleaned.
This is another manufacturer's rubber mat tile. It is in the same area as the first two pictures and has the same foot traffic that the Armor-Tile has. You can see how there may be an issue with this now.
The first picture is also the rubber mat type. The second is an Armor-Tile type. They are in the same flow of foot traffic and across the street from each other. They were both put in around the same time and you can tell the difference on how they stand up to foot traffic. The dark spots on the one that is still in good shape is crusty chewing gum.... At least I am guessing that it is. I didn't actually pick it up and try it. However, if it looks like a duck.....
I have seen many varieties of the detectable warning tiles and so far, I like the Armor-Tile the best, not just because it is the one we sell.
1 comment:
You have obviously seen as many if not more good and bad detectable warnings as I have. So many fail, so many need replacement in so little time....
Just for kicks, I hope you will check out Vanguard ADA Systems liquid applied Detectable Warnings. They have proven to the preferred product for any curve or radii application needed, 100% covered by a 5 year Replacement Warranty, and always professionally installed. I see Vanguard installed across the street from Armor-Tile all the time! We respect their product solution and just want to raise awareness of other technologies available.
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