Cape Town based ET Nice has used the National Lockdown as an opportunity to develop and launch two cost-effective and highly efficient vehicular access control products that are perfect for use in the demanding local conditions. “A further benefit we offer as a local developer and manufacturer is access to large stock levels, ensuring a rapid turnaround on new product supply as well as any consumables that may be required,” says Gerald Kirsten, ET Nice sales and marketing executive.

Kirsten explains that the company has upgraded the cabinets to galvanised, zinc-plated steel which provides superior levels of corrosion-resistance. In addition, the tough powder coating finish provides a completely weather-resistant shield for long-lasting protection and durability for the most common site requirements, at good value.

“The Access barrier cabinet is provided in a standard orange powder coating for enhanced visibility. However, if a customer chooses to colour-match their Access barrier to their site requirements we can easily accommodate this when supplied with the chosen Pantone colour,” says Kirsten.

While the proven reliable mechanical components have been retained, the electrical power plant has been enhanced by introducing a DC motor that allows for the inclusion of true battery back-up models in the range. 

The power supply on the Access AC/DC barrier includes both the standard AC option as well as battery power backup. “The barrier model is neither battery, nor mains-supply dependent, thereby providing the best of both worlds and ensuring peace of mind and high duty cycles, with an assured continuous operation during power outages, of up to 1 300 operations depending on the battery configuration option selected,” says Kirsten.

While ongoing operation remains a primary benefit, equally important is the speed at which the Access barrier lifts and lowers, since bottlenecking can cause frustration for users. Operating speeds through the 90° arc vary from 6 seconds, through 3.5 seconds down to an extremely fast 1.2 seconds on the Access AC HS model.

The booms on the Access barrier are available in a number of lengths and configurations to suit individual applications.

Available boom poles and types are:

• A standard straight pole of either 3 or 4 metre lengths
• A telescopic pole that can adjusted to anything between 4 and 6 metres
• A fence pole, designed to prevent pedestrians from ‘ducking’ under the pole, in 3 to 5 metre lengths
• The unique 180° fold-away-to-the-side jack-knife pole, which is perfect for use in areas where headroom clearance restrictions exists, such as covered parking garages. The unique 180° jack-knife poles are 3.1 metres long in the closed (lowered) position and will completely fold away behind the cabinet of the Access barrier, occupying zero part of the driveway. This is unlike typical 90 ° folding boom pole types where part of the pole remains in place for the vehicle to drive beneath. The 180° jack-knife is designed to fit easily beneath a standard builder’s lintel height of 2.2 metres, when folded.

The Access barrier is designed to easily integrate with various ET Nice and Accentronix intercoms as well as the newly-released Spears surface-mounted traffic spikes from ET Nice.

In addition to the automated Access barrier models, a Manual Access barrier has been developed for manned entry and exit points, where a security guard can comfortably open and close the barrier by hand thanks to its internal spring balancing mechanism. The Manual Access barrier can be kitted with a boom pole of up to 4 metres in length. This model is manufactured using the same robust materials and colours as the automatic models, for extended longevity and high visibility.

“Installers who are familiar with our well-known sliding gate range will be pleased to hear that the Access barrier is really easy to install as we have adopted the same control unit that we employ on our sliding gate operator range, with the only variation being that the controller now controls an up and down motion as opposed to a left to right motion,” says Kirsten. 

Stop criminals in their tracks

When ET Nice decided to develop a high-performance surface-mounted traffic spike to complement its Access and Wide traffic barriers, it consulted various installers to determine what their specific pain points were with regard to traffic spikes. Challenges cited included the fact that spike barriers were often too heavy to transport and hard to handle.

“We decided to make the Spears modular, with the spike trays supplied in manageable 1.2 metre sections. This not only makes the Spears extremely easy to transport, in a ¼ ton LDV for instance, but furthermore, two men can easily install the individual elements, where the heaviest component weighs only 69 kilograms,” says Kirsten.

The individual spike modules can be combined, up to six in a row (7.2 metres) to match the boom length or the roadway width. The lowered mass of the spikes, together with their manoeuvrability, means that less labour is required for installations. Furthermore, no custom tools are necessary, further reducing costs.

The Spears spikes are zinc-electroplated, with an orange epoxy coating, making them both extremely durable and highly visible. Adding to the attractive features of the Spears, they can be configured to operate from a dedicated battery that is in turn, charged and maintained by its own independent charger. “This means that, in the case of a power failure, the system will continue to operate for longer periods” says Kirsten.

Using the barrier controller, installers can select the preferred timing of the spike activation in relation to the arc of the boom pole:

• Quick secure – spikes begin to rise as soon as the boom pole begins lowering.
• Medium standard – spikes begin to rise just prior to the boom pole reaching its fully lowered position. (Closed)
• Slow safe – spikes begin to rise only after the boom pole has completely lowered (closed).

Both the Access barrier and the Spears spikes are secured by ET-Blu Mix® technology. This security feature uses ET Nice’s unique unhackable/uncrackable double encrypted rolling code that is paired with an extremely robust transmitter.

“We have a number of successful installations using the Access barrier and the Spears spikes. In addition to installations at high-traffic spots such as the Hugenot N1 toll plaza in the Western Cape, the Access range has been specified as the standard traffic barrier at Arabella Estate in the Kogelberg Biosphere, following a comprehensive audit of various industry access barrier specifications. The Spears spikes are also proving popular, as evidenced by a recent order from the Tsogo Sun hotel group,” says Kirsten.