Automatic Gates
Automatic Swing Gates
Ram, articulated-arm and underground operators for single and double-leaf gates, installed with EN 12453 safety, serviced and repaired.
Automatic swing gates
Automate the gates the site already has
Swing gates are the traditional pair of leaves on hinges, and automating them keeps the appearance a site already has while removing the daily routine of someone walking out to open up. Ram, articulated-arm and underground operators can power almost any sound pair of gates, from steel estate gates to timber-boarded yard gates. Avanti Doors supplies, installs, automates, services and repairs swing gates across the UK from our Norfolk base.
Where they fit
Estates, car parks and frontages where appearance counts
Swing gates carry the frontage: managed residential estates, office car parks, schools, farms and any entrance where the gate is part of how the property presents itself. Automation adds controlled access without changing that appearance, the same leaves, now opened by fob, keypad, intercom or app, closed and locked behind every movement.
The engineering caveat is space and ground: each leaf sweeps an arc that must stay clear and reasonably level, and the leaves need somewhere to swing that does not conflict with parked cars or queuing traffic. Where the arc cannot be spared, or the entrance is very wide, a sliding or cantilever gate is usually the better machine, and the survey will say so honestly. Whichever leaf layout wins, the automation and access-control package is specified with it and force-tested to EN 12453 at handover.
Before specification
What the swing-gate survey establishes
Leaves, posts, operators and safety zones are assessed as one machine before automation is proposed.
Leaf condition and hinges
Automation multiplies the load on hinges and posts. The survey confirms the leaves are square, the hinges sound and the posts stiff enough to carry an operator, or scopes the remedial work first.
Operator type
Surface-mounted rams are economical and robust; articulated arms suit wide piers and awkward geometry; underground operators disappear from view where appearance matters.
Swing path and safety
A powered leaf sweeping an arc creates crush and shear zones on both faces. EN 12453 safety edges, photocells, force limitation and signage are specified around how people actually move through the entrance.
Wind and exposure
A boarded gate is a sail. Leaf infill, site exposure and required operating wind speed shape the operator torque and locking specification.
Common questions
Automatic swing gate FAQs
Quick answers for estates, facilities and site managers considering gate automation.
1Can our existing gates be automated?
Usually, if the leaves and hinges are sound and the posts can take the loads, the survey confirms it. Where gates are tired, it is often better value to renew leaves and automate in one scope than to bolt operators onto failing hardware.
2Which operator type is best, ram, arm or underground?
Surface-mounted rams are the default for most commercial gates: strong, serviceable and economical. Articulated arms cope with wide brick piers where a ram's geometry will not work. Underground operators hide the automation completely for frontages where appearance leads, at the cost of a buried foundation box and drainage. All three are specified to the leaf size, weight and cycle count.
3What happens in a power cut?
Every operator has a manual release so the gates can be opened by key in an outage, and battery back-up can be added where the site needs powered operation to survive a mains failure. The behaviour on power loss, locked, released or open, is agreed at specification to match the site's security and fire strategy.
4Are automated swing gates safe around pedestrians?
They must be made so: EN 12453 requires protected crush and shear points, force limitation and appropriate detection, and HSE treats powered gates as workplace machinery. Forces are measured at commissioning and rechecked at each service. Our engineers hold Gate Safe qualifications and Avanti is a DHF member.
Swing gate support
Controlled access with the frontage intact
From automating a sound pair of existing gates to new leaves, posts and operators in one scope, we install and maintain swing-gate systems with the safety package the standard requires.
- Support scope
- Ram, arm and underground operators
- EN 12453 force testing at commissioning
- Gate Safe qualified engineers · DHF member
- Manual release and battery back-up options
Explore more