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Good afternoon Folks, let's take care of a very unusual question today which requires a lot of planning…
Question: Eric in Alaska presents a very interesting scenario… I have two questions for you. This system would be used on an above ground timber framed boardwalk. It’s essentially a wooden deck. My concern is installing the load bearing box so it’s rigid. Would you assume that the box will need to be installed encased in concrete? The other thought would be to block out a cavity with wood and I question if this would be rigid enough to resist the torque from the system. I still don’t have a grasp on the latching system. We intend to use a 1300lb resistant magnetic lock. The twist is that there is a real possibility that we will encounter situations where the power is out and the battery backup runs dry. I’m looking for a second latching system that can be used manually without power. I am also hoping this second latch can also be electronically activated to be used in conjunction with the mag lock when we do have power. My concern with using two latching systems is that when we do have power someone engages the manual latch and the gates don’t open. That’s why I see the importance of a second latch system to be dual activated, both automatic and manual. We do not need to lock the gates and as you may be asking yourself what we’re thinking up here, we have been asked to design a boardwalk system for the National Parks Service that is at Brooks Falls, Alaska. This is grizzly bear country, the boardwalk is actually used to view bears along Brooks Falls. There will be a system of automatic doors and gates along the boardwalk to deter bears from entering. The Parks Service also wants these doors/gates to be automatic because they use all terrain vehicles on the boardwalk. It’s an interesting project.
Answer: Good afternoon Eric, the suggested FAAC S800H operator is built to withstand abuse, however the load bearing box should be affixed to a location that will securely hold your gate as it is acting as a bottom hinge to said gate. Attaching it to the boardwalk would work just fine but you will need to make sure that it remains firmly positioned in line with your gatepost.
Now the suggested GTO-FM-144 is the ideal lock/latch, it is a system which operates and unlocks via a solenoid when there is power but also has a key that will unlock it if the power goes out and the batteries run down. Also due to the animal containment application you spec’d out, the FAAC operators will remain latched (fail secure) upon power failure and will need to be manually released to gain access to the boardwalk so that people can enter the property, all this even if the magnetic lock has no power after the batteries have run down.
So to recap… We have designed a system with double locks, one electronic lock (maglock) and one electro mechanical lock (Bulldog Solenoid) and we have coupled it with an FAAC operator that remains latched upon power failure (fail secure) and withstands quite a bit of pressure yet still remains latched until it is manually released or power is restored.
Now with all of that being said, and with your gates being wood it still boggles the imagination that anyone in their right mind would like to get that close to a bear that can get to be about 10’ tall and weight almost a ton.
