Specialist doors supplied for Doncaster maintenance depot

Jewers Doors has installed five of its latest Swift SEW automated sliding bifolding doors at the £80m depot in Doncaster where Hitachi Rail Europe will maintain Virgin Trains East Coast Class 800/801 and TransPennine Express Class 802 AT300 trainsets.

‘As well as securing the building, the practical issues of accommodating live overhead electrification lines and rail tracks had to be taken into account’, said Tilo Hoelzel, Associate Director of RPS Consulting Services and lead designer for the new maintenance building. ‘These were extremely large doors with many factors including thermal and acoustic insulation, resistance to wind, operational safety and security to be incorporated into the design.’

Each door is 4 m wide and 6·6 m high, and comprises four highly-insulated single-piece composite panels with two leaves folding to each side when open. The panels each incorporate a 600 x 600 mm argon-filled double-glazed toughened glass window, and have multi-wall rubber seals to all edges to reduce water, air and dust ingress. There are 850 mm x 760 mm cut-outs to allow the overhead electrification contact wires to pass through the closed doors, lined with 9 mm thick safety matting tested to 30 kVA to prevent bird entry. The door is also earthed back to the structure.

The doors are operated by a centrally mounted drive unit which requires less than 8 sec to open fully. Full-height pressure sensitive safety edges and photocell beams to create a safe zone around the door during operation, and an electromechanical lock within the motor automatically holds the door in the closed position while automatic solenoid floor bolts provide additional security and protect against high winds.