What you need to consider
When a playground installer arrives at a new job site, he immediately looks at the play area to see if it is level. Even before an installer gets out a measuring tape, he has a pretty good idea about whether or not a site has a slope. Because modern playground equipment is manufactured and designed for installation on a level surface, installing it on a slope can be a challenging task. A large change in elevation from one side of the play area to the other should not and would not occur if playground owners and designers consider the slope of an area during the planning stages of a project.
There are several problems with sloped surfaces at playgrounds, the most obvious being equipment heights. For example, say the playground is 40 feet long, with a transfer station off a three-foot deck and a slide on the other end coming off of a five-foot deck. Designated heights from the top of the safety surfacing to these components, based on ASTM and CPSC standards and guidelines, are noted in the installer’s manual by the manufacturer. If the area slopes 24 inches across the 40-foot playground, it will likely make the playground out of compliance with the current playground standards.
In addition to playground equipment heights, another issue is loose fill surfacing that tends to migrate from the top end of a sloped play area to the bottom end of the sloped play area, leaving inadequate surfacing depth at the highest end.
When slope occurs in the extreme, from one end of the playground to the other—consider breaking up the play structure into smaller areas or parts and stair-step the areas as a way to move from one level to the next. Some organizations have been able to find designers who can incorporate slope into the overall use and feel of a play area. Although this requires forethought regarding safety—concerning gravity and child movement—it makes for an aesthetically attractive environment and can even lend to the value of the play area.
If you are purchasing play equipment from a catalog, best design practices call for a level play area for the children to move around the play equipment. Small slope totals may be compensated for by using little installation tricks. Using the required minimum equipment installation heights at the high end of the sloped area and using maximum height requirements at the low end of the sloped area can accommodate for slope.
Let’s consider the transfer station at our 40-foot playground example again. Guidelines call for the landing of the transfer station to be 14 to 18 inches off the top of the safety surfacing, with the ideal height being the center of the two measurements at 16 inches. The slide on the other end of the slope calls for a minimum of 7 inches or a maximum of 15 inches from the top of surfacing with the ideal measurement being center at 11 inches. In a perfect world, a perfectly level playground would have a transfer station installed at 16 inches and a slide exit at 11 inches. Technically, if all other components of the play structure fall into the right height requirements, you could still have 6 inches of slope on this playground and not have any problems. Put the transfer station on the low end of the playground at 18 inches, and put the slide on the high side, then set the slide exit at 7 inches—this will adjust for the 6 inches of slope.
Adjusting your deck's heights in relationship to overhead events (see diagram) is another way to compensate for slope, as many overhead events have minimum and maximum height requirements which installers can use to make slope adjustments. Set your deck on the high side at about 3 feet, bring the overhead event to the lowest point recommended by the manufacturer, and move it over to the 3-foot deck at the low end of the play area. Then set the overhead event at the high point, which will also be recommended by the manufacturer. This is a way to compensate for up to 10 inches or more of slope.
These are a few ways to deal with elevation changes at your playground. Check with your favorite play equipment manufacturer for more ideas on how to deal with the slope at your play area.
