Roll to skatepark design success: building the perfect skatepark is harder than landing a tweaked frontside grabber--trust us, it's one tough trick.

Your problems are over--your community finally approved the construction of a new skatepark. After all the budget meetings, you can now just find a company to design and build it. But if you threw out your aspirin thinking all your headaches were over, you better make another trip to the pharmacy.

Building a skatepark has proved difficult for a variety of communities because of the lack of construction standards in place. Organizations like the Skatepark Association of the United States of America (SPAUSA) have spent years working on the problem, and have tried to develop concrete and wood guidelines. However, these may be years away from the American Standards and Testing Materials (ASTM) approval.

All hope isn't lost though--you can still build a solid skatepark if you know what to watch out for and hold your contractors accountable. Hiring qualified designers and builders should be the first consideration for anyone planning to build a new skatepark. If you use a landscape architect, be sure your construction crew follows the specifications and is held accountable--they should be able to build the park within a 1/8-of-an-inch of the specs.

Identifying common construction problems early can help you save money down the road spent on repairs, or even on an entirely new skatepark. It will also help keep skaters and riders visiting the skatepark, rather than avoiding it because of unsafe or boring ramps and features.

Ramp Up 

By far the most common problem with above-ground parks is movement and shifting of the ramps that causes gaps. The gaps can be very dangerous, and could create a legal situation where the city would be liable for injuries sustained while riding them. Skateboarders can catch a finger in the gaps, fall into the sharp edges that have lifted up from the ground or just fall because of the uneven surface. Bike riders have less problems riding over the gaps, but in a fall they could also be injured by the sharp-pointed metal edges that are lifting up.

The landing area of the ramp must be built to accommodate many riders (see photo above). These riders in turn will be landing with varying degrees of psi (pounds per square inch). About five or six years ago, avert ramp at a BMX contest in Europe collapsed under the weight of the riders and crew. It was a case of a temporary structure, built for one event that was not engineered properly. The builder did not anticipate the weight of the riders and crew, and it started to move and creak. Fortunately everyone got off" before it collapsed. All above-ground ramps should be properly engineered, stamped and built to codes, which can vary from state to state.

The most common mistake when building mini-ramps is making then] too low and or too narrow.

A mini-ramp should be a minimum of 24 feet wide. Anything less will not be used because it is too narrow for riders to learn tricks. One company was even selling mini-ramps that had a kink in them and were completely unrideable. A mini-ramp is a must at an above-ground park, but it has to be acceptable to riders skateboarding in public parks. A good size for a mini-ramp is five to eight feet high and 24 to 36 feet wide.

In addition to ramps, elements in the landing area, such as a fun box (a wooden or metal rectangular box where skaters can grind), also need to be designed and built to withstand repeated landings. The fun box in the photo to the left is collapsing and is also creating dangerous gaps with sharp edges. With no standards in place and no funds to write or research the standards, agencies will need to rely on the design and construction company working on the project. Make sure they are qualified, ask for references and follow up with them. Make sure all products are engineered and guaranteed against defects, even obstacles within the park.

Surfacing Solutions

Heavy-gauge steel surfaces are smooth and can provide a good riding surface, but care must be taken when choosing them. They can become very hot, can rust and are also noisy. In the book, Ride of My Life, pro biker Mat Hoffman writes about a rider who was knocked unconscious and received third-degree burns from the ramp while waiting for an ambulance. If your park is located in a hot climate, and a wet or residential area, steel surfaces might not be the best choice. Alternative surfaces include ones made out of concrete, plastic, wood or a similar surface.

If you choose an above-ground park that has surface screws (do not use nails on the surface because they will pop up), you must check the park on a regular basis for screws that need tightening. Also make sure to inspect them after a rain--the surface may start to lift up at the corners and the surface material will need to be reinforced.

Both steel and wood are excellent building materials for the base frame of the park. SPAUSA recommends closing off the area under the ramp to help keep out litter, kids and homeless people from taking up a residence under the ramps. It will also help to reduce noise. The areas must be well-ventilated if you are using a wood frame, and must provide drainage so water doesn't pool beneath your ramps.

Although it may seem that the large surfaces of the skatepark are the most important, coping could prove the most problematic if not done properly. Coping is either steel pipe or concrete blocks with a rounded leading edge placed on the top edge of a transitioned wall. All pools have coping on the top edge, which helps make the lip more pronounced, giving the rider a better edge to perform tricks on. Coping also aids in launching the riders out of the top of the riding structure and into the air to perform maneuvers.

If the coping is built wrong, it can make a whole park completely unrideable. A general rule for setting pipe coping properly is to have it protrude on top of the platform and in front of the transition between one half to three-fourths of an inch. Whichever measurement you choose has to be uniform with the length of the pipe. If the park is going to be outdoors, then the pipe should be made of galvanized steel. SPAUSA recommends a 50- to 60-mm width with a 5- to 6-mm wall thickness.

The city of Moreno Valley, Calif., hired a contractor to build its skatepark, and the contractor buried the coping in the bowls making it flush at the top and leaving it unrideable. They called the landscape architect and asked for help--eventually the contractor agreed to dig out the coping, but it was replaced at the city's expense.

Concrete Skateparks

When the second wave of concrete skateparks started being built about 10 years ago, there were hardly any standards to follow, except to try construction by trial and error. Many of these skateparks were built without soil testing, proper footings, concrete curing or expansion joints. Most were constructed with 2,500 psi concrete. As would be expected, some of the skateparks were experiencing excessive wear and tear, which in turn, was blamed on BMX usage.

Although the finger-pointing was prevelant in the United States, there were concrete parks in Europe and Australia that were still standing after more than 20 years of use. The skatepark in Kona, Fla., was the only big U.S. concrete park to survive the first wave of skateparks created before 1995. After contacting designers and builders from around the world, SPAUSA found out some interesting construction revelations.

Concrete should be a minimum of 4,000 psi and cured for e8 days. Skateable expansion joints can be made with saw cuts made in the concrete surface. These expansion joints are needed in cold climates and in areas with a lot of ground movement.

Other common problems with concrete parks include inconsistent transitions, bumpy walls, bad shaping, kinks, rough surfaces and generally poor design. Concrete bowls must have drains--without them you not only create a drowning hazard, but if the water table rises, the bowl can pop out of the ground. The holes in the drain also need to be smaller than the smallest finger or you will risk getting fingers caught. Bowls should also have a roll-in or shallow end so that injured riders can be easily evacuated.

Safety Features

Fencing should be used to keep flying skateboards and bikes away from spectators. The city of Denver, Colo., installed a wall around the skatepark that is approximately 2.5 feet high. People can sit on the wall to rest or watch. When installing fencing, it is good to keep in mind that the barrier you are creating becomes another feature of the park. Not only can the skaters and bikers scale it in seconds, they can also use it for stunts.

It can also double as a security measure but will not keep out a determined rider as many communities report that skaters use the skatepark after the park is closed for the evening. Fencing can be designed to keep a person or animal from falling into the park. As a general barrier it will most likely fail, but at least it will prevent people from falling a far distance when they can't see at night.

In addition to fencing, some communities rely on height restrictions, even though they don't generally make your park safer. In many cases, a higher ramp is actually safer because it allows the rider a place to go. Short, steep ramps can pitch riders out and cause injuries. A recent injury study of 60,000 participants by the Shaw Millennium Skatepark in Canada showed that most injuries occurred in the beginner area, and then were equally distributed throughout the park--including the expert area and walkways into the park. The study was completed during a two-month period, and included 1,000 participants per day during daylight hours. The injury rate averaged .03 percent.

Conclusion

Although there are hundreds of companies vying for the contract to build your skatepark, only a qualified professional should be hired. A landscape architect working with a group of young riders is not likely to design a good park, and in the end your community will pay as much for a one-star park that is unrideable, as you will for a four-star park that is the hit of the town and lasts for years.

A huge concrete park might sound good in the planning stages and to the local riders, but in reality there is a big difference between looking good on paper and riding like the dream they envisioned. It is important to work with and include the locals' ideas, but the park design needs to be finalized by a qualified professional skatepark designer.

Venice Beach, Calif., home of the infamous Dogtown and Z Boys skaters, is a good example: the community would like to improve the design of the park, but it is small at only 12,000 square feet, and has serious height restrictions set by the county and coastal commission. Skateboarding legend Jesse Martinez has been thinking about this park for many years, and came up with a plan to overcome the obstacles in the community He designed a bowl for the pool riders, a replica of the Graffiti Pit (a famous street skateboarding area in the now-demolished Venice Pavailion) for the street skaters and a snake run for the long boarders.

When constructing your park, you should always keep your mission in mind. Hopefully, that mission should include the creation of a safe place for people to recreate, at their own risk. Sound construction should help keep your skatepark safe in the areas where you have control such as surface conditions, transitions, flow patterns and speed lines. Most cities have existing building codes in place for concrete and general construction, and it is recommended that communities use them whenever possible.

Smooth surfaces, secure equipment and a good design are critical to the success of your skatepark.

A skatepark is designed to send kids flying through the air, whizzing around corners and jumping off obstacles and rails. Poor construction will not only add to your headaches, but it won't hold up in court if someone gets hurt, so make every effort to build the park right the first time. You will never regret hiring a good skatepark designer. The community will not only get its money's worth, but will have a place they can be proud of and use for many years.

CHECKING IT TWICE

SPAUSA, www.spausa.org, recommends that before construction of a skatepark begins, the community request three different cost quotes on the project, and then check references. Once you've gathered quotes, check the companies' past projects at www.concretedisciples.com. The Web site lists skateparks across the United States, and gives ratings based on skateability and rider reviews. You can also contact SPAUSA to find out if the company you are considering has had any complaints lodged against it or request a copy of the concrete or ramp guidelines.