Detectable Warning Surface, ADA Requirements, Truncated Domes, OH MY!

I had the pleasure of watching “The Wizard of Oz” recently with my niece.  Do you remember how Dorothy and her friends repeatedly chanted, “Lions and Tigers and Bears, OH MY!”?  Well, there are striking similarities between that and my meeting earlier in the day with officials in a nearby city’s engineering department.  That meeting found a number of employees so confused about tactile warnings, that I could clearly hear them chanting, “Detectable warning surface, ADA requirements, truncated domes, OH MY!”.  In my dealings with public works departments, engineering departments, architects, and contractors, I find there is great confusion about building codes, minimum construction standards, the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), ADAAG, and the like, when it comes to Detectable Warnings.

I don’t know why there is so much confusion.  The requirements for color, for example, are clear as a bell.  The detectable warnings simply have to have contrast with the surrounding substrate, either light-on-dark or dark-on-light.  Except in those cases where certain jurisdictions require that they meet the 70% contrast recommendation.  Except, also, where they must be Federal Yellow #33538.  But then again, if the Federal Yellow fails to meet the 70% contrast recommendation do you need to install the warning band?  OH MY!

I don’t know either, why there is confusion about dome spacing.  Section 4.29.2 of the ADA Standards for Accessible Design clearly states that Detectable Warnings on Walking Surfaces shall consist of raised truncated domes with a center-to-center spacing of 2.35 inches when measuring side-by-side domes which are placed on a staggered pattern.  But then again, although the ADA legislation calls for that staggered pattern of domes, the United States Department of Transportation’s Federal Highway Administration repeatedly recommends domes in an in-line configuration, as opposed to the staggered pattern.  But then again, that recommendation is not law.  The ADA is law.  But then again, who would want to run afoul of the DOT, the agency responsible for enforcing the standards and implementing regulations of the ADA's Title II, and the Federal Highway Administration, the enforcing authority for discrimination issues under Title II?  Detectable warning surface, ADA requirements, truncated domes, OH MY!

For more information on ADA legislation, the DOT, FHWA, ADAAG and more, go to www.armor-tile.com.

By Mark Heimlich

Back to Articles