Almost all bowls and similar elements should be banded with coping.  Coping is the edge formed at the junction of the transitional radius (e.g., the uppermost edge of the wall of the bowl) and the surrounding deck.  Coping is most generally used to grind the skateboard axle against.  The trucks (axle) of the skateboard essentially lock on to the coping and the board and the rider slides along, similar to the way that a train runs along railroad tracks.  Adding coping to the park will be a significant expense in the short term.  However, in the long run it will add many years to the life of the park and substantially postpone the need for restorative maintenance.  Your design will undoubtedly have areas where the placement of metal coping is appropriate.  Put it where it is needed.  It more than pays for itself later.

Coping to be used for the outside of bowls or other transitional radii should be fabricated (cold rolled) from 1.90 inch outside diameter (O.D.) Schedule 40 tubular steel pipe.  Coping on bowls and similar transitional elements should sit proud of the surface of the concrete by 3/8 of an inch.  Rebar welded to the back of the coping will lock the coping into the concrete.  Coping for spines can be made from single lengths of tube steel or two tubes welded together at the center.  Right angles can be coped with angle steel anchored into the concrete with rebar.

Schedule 40 steel pipe is a tough material and must be custom bent to the desired shape by a firm that specializes in pipe bending.  Check the yellow pages to find the company nearest you.  Begin your search by looking under pipe bending or plumbing.  To help save on shipping costs try to purchase all of your coping and other steel elements at the same time.  Don’t worry about how long it has been since high school geometry, the fabricators at pipe bending companies are skilled professionals.  In most instances they require only a rough sketch with simple measurements in order to calculate the radius and number of pieces of pipe required for your project.  Schedule 40 pipe generally comes in standard 20- or 22-feet lengths.  Modern bending facilities use computer controlled rolling machines to bend the pipe.  As a result of most bending processes a portion of the ends of each piece of pipe remain unbent.  This length, usually 1-foot, will have to be cut off each end of all pieces of pipe before the coping is assembled.  Ask the bender if this is the case and, if so, ask them to clearly mark these areas for you.

Coping can also be made out of concrete.  Concrete coping can be purchased pre-made in the form of pool coping.  The trouble with pool coping is that it cannot be set to the tolerances required for skatepark construction (proud of the concrete surface by 3/8 of an inch) and will stick out proud of the junction of the radius and the deck by an inch or more.  This is great if you want an element of the park to resemble the conditions found when skating swimming pools, but might prove disadvantageous for inexperienced new school riders.  The downside to any type of concrete coping is that it will chip and be abraded away in time and will eventually require replacement or repair.

Welding coping.

The pre-bent Schedule 40 tubular steel pipe will arrive from the pipe benders by truck.  Check to confirm the radius is correct before unloading.  As touched on before, the machinery that bends the pipe cannot bend the entire length, the last foot of material at each end of pipe will remain straight and these sections will have to be cut off.  Remember to ask the benders to clearly mark these areas.  Any excess material that needs to be removed in order to get the proper radius (marked by the pipe bender) also needs to be removed at this time.  As an example, pipe comes to the bender in standard 20- or 22-feet lengths.  For coping a 19 feet radius (38 feet in diameter), four lengths of pipe will need to be bent to provide sufficient material to complete that radius.  However, only a portion of the fourth piece of pipe will need to be used.  The remainder of that piece of pipe, in addition to the straight end pieces on each piece of pipe, is (usually) unneeded excess that must be cut off. 

To cut pipe most effectively use a tool called a pipe cutter as the edges of the pipe will match nicely for welding.  Pipe cutters can be rented by the day or week at most equipment rental stores.  If a pipe cutter is not available, an oxygen and acetylene cutting torch in capable hands will work fine.  Follow standard procedure for preparing the material for welding.  Make sure that it is clean and free from rust, grease or dirt.  Place the pieces as level as possible, match the ends closely and weld all the pieces of pipe together.  Do not grind down the welding bead at this time; the coping will be stronger if you leave it.  The bead can be ground away after the coping has been hung and the rebar attached.  Get enough additional help to move the welded coping in one piece to the location where it will be within the skatepark.

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