Safe and secure access for construction heavyweights Ainscough Crane Hire

Ainscough Crane Hire (Ainscough) approached Heras with the seemingly simple request, to replace a gate at their Bredbury site. However through a collaborative approach, Heras took the time to really understand the needs of Ainscough and stepped up to the specific challenges of the site with exemplary customer service.  

The Challenge 

On the face of it, the Bredbury site simply needed a new gate, an upgrade on an old and tired entrance control system that was no longer compliant with UK legislation and was starting to show signs of wear and tear. 

Instead of simply offering ‘a new gate’ Heras took the time to understand the needs of the site and after some very informative conversations with Depot Manager, Gary Rathborne, Heras took into account a number of challenges. 

• Firstly, the site is in operation 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. Around the clock, staff and up to 16 cranes enter and exit the site in any one shift, so the actual work to be done needed to be swift and could not disrupt business activity.  
• Secondly the position and angle of gate and construction, has to allow for the large size and heavy weight of the cranes and HGVs, up to 500 tonnes.  
• Thirdly the existing access control for the gate was linked to the companies fueling system, so the new gate access control had to re incorporate a third party system. 

The approach: Safety First 

As part of the analysis, Heras identified the main risk being based around the high levels of usage due to the sites constant flow of vehicles passing through the gates and constant need for operational activity. And so a solution had to be implemented that would maintain 100% safety and operational activity. 

With an alignment on company values – Heras’ “safety first” and Ainscough’s “make the safe choice”, our suggested solution, that put the safety of staff and visitors first, of a Safe Glide 2 (SG2) and need to re do the civil ground works, were fully embraced.  

Needing to accommodate their largest crane, to ensure ease of access, the position of the gate had to be considered and in partnership with Ainscough, used CAD technology to assess the various possible scenarios of vehicle movement. 

The solution 

Heras installed the SG2, an automated cantilever sliding gate that has a number of safety features and is designed with longevity and constant usage in mind. A number of safety features of the SG2 were very pertinent for Ainscough, particularly the safety edges and photocell, which ensure the gate stops and reverses should a person or car come into the path of the moving gate. This is imperative for Ainscough, being located on the edge of a busy industrial estate. 

As part of the installation, the civils had to be reconfigured and the existing foundations all replaced to provide a suitable base for the required gate fixings. The base also incorporated the existing power and fueling system cabling. 

To accommodate Ainscough’s need to combine access control of the gate with their third party fueling system, Heras reintegrated the new access control system with it. However firstly the Heras Engineers onsite stepped up, following installation challenges faced by the fueling system technicians and went on to lead the removal of the old systems. Heras take a truly partnership approach and work with all relevant parties on site to get the job done, often going above and beyond their remit.

At this Gary commented 

“We sincerely appreciate your efficient, gracious customer service, the level of detail and accountability you have demonstrated on our project, and the way you conduct business as a whole. The can do attitude from everyone, start to finish, especially the installation team was joy to see.” 

The result was a 1 fob system for users to be able to safely access the site and refuel. For the company this combined system provides an efficient tool to monitor activity and be in control of operational needs. 

In order to incorporate the gate, a new perimeter fence line was created. This consisted of a section of palisade fencing combined with our security rated Zenith mesh panel, to match the SG2 gate panel. 

The result 

Completing the project efficiently, within the agreed 3 week on site schedule, meant Ainscough felt minimal disruption to their business continuity and were left with a new, fully compliant, highly safe, sliding gate system that responded to the companies needs of having a: 

1. Safe entrance for all vehicles requiring access, up to the heavyweight 500 tonne cranes. 
2. Reinforced and secure perimeter line, due to the security rated fencing bridging the gaps at either side of the gate to reduce the risk of unwanted or forced entry. 
3. New and reliable access control system that integrates with third party products to create a dual purpose fob for staff to operate the gate and the fueling system. 
4. Fueling and access control fob system that provides management information and supports business operations. 
5. Remote control for the gate to enable ease of access and control of the gate for staff based at the site.

The Heras solution and service has also importantly led to a great experience for the customer, as Gary also commented

“Thank you for the quality of service provided by your company. We have, and will continue to, recommend your services to other companies and contacts. Our team could not be more satisfied with your work, and we look forward to continuing this relationship with you and across our remaining 34 sites.”