AUSTRALIA: Max Doors Solutions has installed four sets of Jewers Doors’ Swift-SEW bifolding doors at the maintenance depot on the 12 km Canberra light rail line which is expected to open this year.
Sydney-based architect Architectus selected Jewers to supply the doors, which were manufactured in the UK. They are 7 m high, with three being 4 m wide and the fourth being 5 m wide to accommodate a curved track.
Each door has four leaves made from 62 mm thick insulated single-piece steel-faced composite panels, with the centrally-mounted drive unit folding two leaves to each side in under 8 sec. In the event of power failure a low-level disengage handle enables the doors to be opened by hand.
There are full-height pressure sensitive safety edges in the leading edge of the door, and photocells to prevent doors closing on a tram and to create a safe zone around the door.
The doors are powder coated to match the cladding façade and each leaf is fitted with a double-glazed toughened glass vision panel set in a thermally broken aluminium frame to provide light ingress and visibility.
Each door leaf is fitted with full perimeter seamless multi-wall rubber seals to prevent dust and water ingress. A 500 mm x 580 mm cut-out allows the door to close around the overhead line equipment, and is lined with a dielectrically rated rubber sheet tested to 30 kVA to prevent bird entry and reduce dust ingress. The doors are earthed back to the structure with bonding braids.
‘In my experience, previous depot door installations in Australia have been somewhat agricultural, and Canberra Metro recognised the benefits of a proprietary UK product purchased from MDS who are a well-respected supplier of high quality industrial doors in Australia’, said Jewers Doors director Mark Jewers. He added that the company was also working with MDS on several other rail projects.
