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Automatic Gates for Gated Communities

Dual entry and Exit

A fully automated gate system can improve the security and quality of life for those living in a community of homes. Knowing that you're NOT going to be woken in the night be random hoons off the street is well worth the investment. With residents using remote controls, key tags or their mobile phones to get in and a vehicle detector to let anyone out, peace of mind has never been easier. To cater for visitors an Intercom system can be included with video that can be integrated with a video surveillance system that has 24 hour digital recording and remote access to smart phone will keep everything running smoothly.    

Things to consider:

  • Number of users verses life expectancy of the Operator and the gate.
  • Is a swing or sliding gate more suitable?
  • How will visitors get in or out? 
  • Placement of letter boxes, intercom and gates to avoid traffic congestion during peak times. 
  • Is it necessity to lock the gate electrically?
  • What happens if the power goes out?
  • Is a separate entry and exit gate necessary? 
  • Safety of all users including: residents, visitors and the general public.
  • Level of Security - preventing cars sneaking in behind others and controlling pedestrians.

Number of Users verses Life Expectancy of the Operator

Its important to consider the number of vehicles that will be using a gate and choose an operator and gate fabrication system that is made to last the distance. If there's less than 18 vehicles likely to use the gate on average per day then a residential operator will be fine, any more than this and an operator made for being used more will be necessary.

... more about Life Expectancy of an Automatic Gate Operator

The No-weld gate fabrication system is ideal for gates that get a lot of use because it doesn't suffer from metal fatigue that can cause the welds on a welded gate to crack and fail. 

Is a Swing or Sliding Gate more Suitable?

Sliding gates are more suitable than a swing gate when: a driveway slopes up from the road or there isn't room for a gate to swing but sliding gates do need space to open into. 

... more about choosing between Swing and Sliding Gates

How Residents Get Into a Gated Community

Residents may have:

  1. Hand held  key ring sized hand held remote controls allow each Resident to open the gate.  These are best used with a commercial management system that assigns remote controls to users individually so they can easily be removed from the system even if lost or stolen without having to reprogram the entire system.
  2. An RFID key card or tag touched on a reader will open a front entry gate.  These are a more economic alternative to remote controls with a management system for assigning cards or tags to users individually even if they are lost or stolen.
  3. 3G/4G Access Controls use Mobile Phones as remote controls by registering users mobile numbers into the system and they just dial a preset number to open the gate or use an App on their Smart Phone.
  4. A Digital Keypad can also be used where everyone can be issued a separate pin number although these tend to be vulnerable to people sharing numbers so isn't the highest form of security. 

Visitors Access control and monitoring who's coming and going.

Visitors, delivery men and tradesmen require an intercom system to each home.  The intercom at the gate either has a button for each home or a digital keypad so the home number can be dialled in.   Some systems have an alphanumerical display where an occupants name can be searched for.

A Video Intercom is also very handy for users to screen visitors giving them the choice of whether to let a visitor know if they are available or not. A Video Intercom System can also be combined with a Video Surveillance System with 24 hour digital recording to keep track of who is coming and going and capturing events such as someone driving into the gate or activities of vandals.

Choosing and Intercom System 

Placement of letter boxes.

Residents will tend to want to check their letter box while driving in or out to save having to walk so need some were to park their car for 5 minutes that is out of the way of other vehicles wanting to use the gate. Also the Postie needs access to the letter boxes and will need a safe area out of the way of other vehicles to deliver the mail.

placement of letter boxes

Placement of an Intercom

An intercom should be placed away from other vehicles using the gate so if a visitor has stopped to use the intercom and an authorised user wishes to get in they don't get stuck behind the visitor if they may not be able to gain access.

placement of an intercom

Does a Gate need an electric lock?

Sliding Gate motors lock the gate too so nothing further is needed.

Swing gate motors for Gated Communities do need an electric lock because the likely hood that someone will be pushing on the gate to try and get in is very high. Magnetic locks are recommended for Gated Communities and are best used to lock a single gate to a receiving post. If you have a double swing gate then a powered drop bolt is necessary to lock both gates to the ground, this does require a hard stop in the middle of the driveway.

You may also have a Small Side Pedestrian Gate that can be tied in with the automatic gate system. Magnetic locks are also the most reliable solution for electrically locking Pedestrian gates in gated communities with a self closer to prevent it slamming in the wind.  

... more about Electric Locks for Automatic Gates

Power Out Considerations

What happens if there is a power failure? Ideally the gate will continue working regardless, even with a lot of users, which requires a continuously rated battery back up system 

... more about Power Options for Automatic Gates

Separate Entry and Exit Gates 

To allow higher volumes of traffic to flow more smoothly a separate entry and exit gate is recommended, particularly if an RFID card system is used because the card reader is best located on the right hand side of a residents vehicle so they can reach it from their drivers window. If a 2 way gate is used vehicles tend to move towards the centre blocking any vehicles wanting to exit and if an RFID card reader is used incoming vehicles will need to enter the outgoing lane to use a card reader.

It is also more desirable to have the outgoing gate opening outwards so vehicles won't have the gate opening towards them.

An in ground vehicle loop detector also works more effectively with a separate EXIT gate because then incoming vehicles are not detected so the gate will close more quickly reducing the change of vehicles following another in.

Safety of All Users

Keeping pedestrians out of the path of vehicles using the entry gates is important for their own safety particularly if there is young children or aged, so a separate pedestrian gate with its own access control is necessary.  Having visitor car parks outside the entry gates is normally a council requirement, meaning visitors will be entering on foot so and Intercom system should be placed so visitors have safe access to it too or if this isn't possible then a separate Intercom system placed for pedestrians only.

Pedestrian gates should have a self closer that not only closes the gate but controls the speed the gate closes too, as this is much safer than simple spring loaded hinges that can slam closed very fast particularly if they get some wind behind them. Gas struts fitted to the pedestrian gate like a linear gate motor are the most effective mechanisms for this type of self closer and are relatively low cost.

Safety Photocells are also mandatory for gated communities to prevent an automatic gate closing on a vehicle.  If pedestrians do use the driveway gate and it is a single swing gate there can be a situation where they may get trapped behind a gate so there must be a secondary safety system in place too such as the motor itself having built in obstruction detection so if this happens the gate will stop and then reverse letting the person free without harming them. 

... more about Safety Photocells 

Level of Security

It is ideal if the gate motor has the ability for the Safety Photocells to also control the closing of the gate. This way once a vehicle passes through the gate will close immediately after them reducing the chance that another unauthorised vehicle will follow them in. Having a fast closing gate will also help with this although to prevent this happening entirely gates generally cannot close fast enough so a barrier arm is used instead, although barrier arms control vehicles only they cannot stop pedestrians, which is where gates work best.  The combination of a gate and barrier arm with fencing placed to make it difficult for pedestrians to walk though the driveway gate is the most effect security solution, although having video surveillance cameras monitoring the gates 24 hours with recording as well covers a situation where someone does sneak in by foot so firstly you can see who it is and secondly see how they did it so perhaps a way to prevent anyone from doing it again in future could be implemented.