Malmesbury Sliding Gates – Twin Gate Installation – September 2016.

Design requirements.

These original Malmesbury sliding gates were fitted some 15-20 years ago by others, using CAME frog motors operating a pair of 3mtr swing gates, and a wooden fence either side of the opening.

The location of this installation is at the end of an open valley, and as such, the wind speed can be so excessive we were lead to believe the chain drive on the swing gate motors had twice snapped in the face of the strong gales. Due to the restricted area either side of the opening, we suggested installing twin metal sliding gates clad with hardwood panels, with steel box section side frames where wooden cladding could also be fitted.

The client expressed a desire to leave all the exposed steelwork on the inside of the property with a galvanised finish to give an industrial feel to the finished project.

Our aim was to reinstate the look of the fence and gates without seeing massive steel supports from the road. Working with ‘The Iron Works Ltd’ based in Malmesbury, Wilts, we set about designing the framework and running gear using ‘Gallow’ brackets with flat steel tops where 8 sets of rollers would hang from 2 posts either side of the opening. Due to the wind force of the location, It was decided to use 100x50mm box section for the fence frames and the gate sections, the top of the gates were to have an angle iron section welded the whole length of the gate top which would run between the drop down rollers, so the exterior cladding on the gate could be fitted higher than the ‘Gallow’ brackets so they could not be seen from the road.

All the metal work was send for ‘Hot dip galvanising’ ready for installation.

Installation details.

The client also asked for the cracked concrete areas around the entrance and approaches to be removed and re-laid. This worked well with the steel work installation as they were all installed at the same time as approx. 16 Sq/mtrs of fresh reinforced concrete was laid, this ensured a sturdy basis for all the steelwork, frames and running gear.

When all the concrete had set, The timber cladding prepared from ‘Indigbo’ (an African hardwood) was installed, each fence section, and gate section was screw fixed through the steel box section from the rear, so no fixings were to be seen from the front elevation.

All the cable containment was installed in the concrete base to minimise visible cabling. Final connections were made, and an interface was added to enable the lights either side on the opening to automatically switch on during the activation cycle at night.

The system was set up and commissioned prior to handover.

Technical details.

The gates are driven by 2 CAME BX246 operators (working in tandem) with 2off 6mtr CAME DEMO sliding gate kits. Safety is provided with 4 x BEA LZRi1100 Laser curtains. 2 are positioned inner and outer of the opening area. After many observations and operations, we found that using just the first 2 curtains programmed to exactly the height and width of the opening, and connected to ‘Open when closing’ worked perfectly, the other 2 curtains were disabled to prevent unnecessary tripping. The ‘Dead’ area where the parked open gates roll back, where each covered by a Laser curtain again using just 2 of the 4 curtains available on each unit, however these were connected to the ‘Total stop’ circuit, to complete the safety issues, 4off 2000mm x 40mm x 40mm safety edges were fitted on the opening fixed edges and connected to the ‘Close when opening’ circuit.

This removed the need for time consuming Force testing both on handover and during regular service visits in the future.

Activations were provided with TOP432 remote triggers, Keypad entry, Keypad exit and Videx GSM call station with SIM card fitted providing dial up operation for personnel.

The existing CCTV camera was rewired and reinstated at the clients request.

If you are interested in finding out more about our Malmesbury sliding gates installations, please feel free to contact us.