Curb Ramps Are the Antidote to Driveways That Scrape

There are expensive options. For example, Chevrolet solved the issue on the Corvette by offering an optional front lift with memory. A driver can manually lift the sports car’s front or set a GPS-based location to automatically raise the car about two inches. However, curb ramps provide a gentle transition between the street and your driveway at minimal cost.

Rubber Ramps

Bridjit Curb Ramps Inc., based in Kent, Wash., engineered a heavy-duty rubber ramp that minimizes the drop-off on many curbs and driveways. The company cleverly takes a green approach by making the ramps from recycled tires.

Bridjit curb ramp

We tested a Bridjit with a stock 2003 Chevrolet Corvette. Without the ramp, the car always scraped the front air dam, regardless of the approach angle. General Motors designed the air dam as a flexible item, but eventually, an item like that will suffer damage from repeated scraping. With the Bridjit curb ramp in place, the Corvette has an easier time traversing the driveway.

The typical Bridjit curb ramp set-up consists of a four-foot main piece of straight curbing and two tapered four-foot end pieces. They bolt together with galvanized nuts and bolts and cover 12 feet of the driveway. You can order additional sections of the main straight piece for wider drives if necessary. The use of rubber allows some flexibility for curvy driveways. Regardless, these things are tough and durable.

City Friendly

Bridjit curb ramps withstand rain and street sweepers. They have a built-in circular channel on the underside, so water runs under the curbing. City street sweepers steer around it when they come down our street, just like they would for a parked car or similar obstruction. For people living with restrictive homeowners’ associations, the ramps should satisfy even the strictest guidelines because they blend into the roadway with little visual impact.

You should have little worry about a Bridjit curb ramp “disappearing.” At 12 feet and 150 pounds, the item is unwieldy after assembly, so it should stay put. However, what will be an issue is curiosity from those passing by—folks wanting to know how you solved a pesky problem that plagues so many drivers.

Alternatives

There are other options beyond Bridgit. Some firms offer hard plastic curb ramps with a fixed height. These are helpful if you want to create a new entryway against a straight-sided curb. Make sure the specifications match your curb.

Plastic curb ramp

D-I-Y wood curb ramp

If you don’t care about aesthetics, place wood two-by-fours against the driveway or lay out a few sandbags to smooth the incline. These are not long-term solutions, but they could do the trick for a few uses. But we highly recommend a flexible, rubber-based system as the best bet against scraping your front end.