Why can't they add more levels onto parking ramps???

Question

In huge cities, parking is super-tight. Occasionally you will see parking ramps that are only 2 levels, but other parking ramps that are 20 levels. Since they can charge up to $20 an hour to park there, why don't they just add more levels onto the top one?

They could then charge a ton of money to park there!!!

Answer 1

Good question.  I guess structural integrity and cost are huge factors, but you're right, it'll pay off, definitely in a city environment.  I suppose there could be a safety concern.  If something were to happen, say the building collapses, that's a whole lot of cars to pay for.  Or if there was an emergency of some sort, it would take forever for people to leave and emergency vehicles to enter.  Speaking of which, have you ever noticed how low the ceilings are in parking garages?  I doubt an ambulance could safely drive through one.

Answer 2

Well, the more levels you're building, the more expensive construction and design are.  http://www.vtpi.org/tca/tca0504.pdf does a pretty good job of talking about the various expenses involved in providing parking.  So even though depending on where the garage is located, its operator can charge a lot, the upfront cost of installation can be pretty hefty.

Then, you've got the fact that garages can be a hassle because of circulation concerns and other engineering concerns like lighting and ventilation.  Also, the locality could have various design/planning/zoning rules affecting parking.  Usually, these are in the form of minimum parking requirements, but garage design and placement can also be affected.  Actually, that's another thing: there's a movement within the civil engineering and planning fields to press for lowered minimum parking requirements, which could translate into fewer spaces (smaller decks) each time one's built.

Answer 3

the foundation or lowest level supports all the weight of all the floors above, including the weight of the cars.  SOO, the bottom foundation is only strong enough to hold up the number of floors it has when its built.

Answer 4

The issue is not always engineering related.  You are also constrained by city zoning ordinances, permitting, and environmental regulations.