McLays Automatic Gate System, Cardiff

What was the problem?
Cardiff firm A McLays Ltd is one of the largest digital print and design companies in Europe. The company wanted a bespoke automated gate to help them obtain ISO-14001 accreditation and to keep their logistics and delivery yard secure (they needed to manage the logistics of HGV vehicles around the site). The brief was to create a bespoke gate design matching the site’s existing colour schemes and styles, to fabricate the gate, provide civil engineering, electrical works, access control and an integrated VOIP entry intercom for it.

 

What security devices did you install?
After our initial site meeting and risk assessment, we provided McLays with a design specification and CAD drawing to explain how the gate would operate. This showed how the gate would blend into its existing surroundings. We then started the fabrication stage of the project – This took six weeks from start to finish, including galvanising and powder coating the gate. We based the system on the NICE 3500kg cantilever gate system and the rolling centres 12m cantilever gate kit. We combined this with excellent Paxton Net2 access control and UDL VOIP door entry intercom systems.

 

What challenges did you face in installing the system?
Our main challenge was to prepare the ground around the gate’s new location ready for the installation. This involved hand-digging ducts around a mains transformer, using a mini digger to prepare the ground and installing the large gate U-frame and suspending this in concrete until set (making sure we retained a perfect “level” for the whole system to sit on). Another challenge with large automatic gate systems is the safety of the people around it. To adhere to (and exceed) the latest British Standards we installed: 
• A vehicle ground loop on a timer so no open commands can be made by thieves after hours 
• Laser break beams 
• Several crush strip sensors around all trap points
• Chain mesh fencing to block any routes around the sides of the gate system.

Once this was done and installed we force-tested the gate at various points to make sure it was 100% safe to use.

 

Any other work carried out?
We designed and supplied a pair of bespoke intercom posts for the Paxton access control and UDL intercoms to be mounted on. We also made the entry posts dual-height to serve HGVs and lower vans and cars.