A 'stepped ramp' is a new term for me. don't know anything about it. Will consult the Maya docs on that one, unless there's an explanation provided somewhere here.
I'll try snapping CV's first and then a Contiguious edge loop from there and see if that does the trick.

FYI - it started out as a NURBS model, to model have of the ship using curves/loft. Then I converted it to poly.

In any case I'll give it a shot. Thanks for your help guys. will let you know how I went.