An engineer needs to know how to calculate slopes and gradients in differing situations. The most common occurrence of this is working with ramped access to buildings, groundworks, car parks, and so on. Slopes can be measured in angles, percentages, and ratios. For this post, I will focus on the measurement of slopes in ratios, mainly because gradient ratios are stated in the building regulations.
How to work out the gradient
Remember to convert units so they are the same. For example, we have a 10m ramp run and a rise of 500mm. Convert the run to 10,000mm.
Example:
We want to work out the gradient of a ramp that has a run of 10m and a rise of 500mm.
Gradient = Run / Rise
Gradient = 10m / 500mm
Convert the units:
Gradient = 10,000mm / 500mm
Gradient = 20
Gradient = 1:20
For calculating rise, run, and slope percentage watch this tutorial video
