America’s Gate Company is one of the largest gate manufacturers in the Nation. We custom build decorative and chain link swing, slide, cantilever, and overhead gates. Our specialty is in the extraordinarily large gates.
Recently, America’s Gate Company built a 10’ tall double drive swing gate with a 120’ opening for Sioux City Airport Museum in Sioux City, Iowa. This was by no means an ordinary design. A gate this size requires complicated engineering that must consider not only how to support the gate as a cantilevered load, but also the impacts of wind loading, over torqueing resulting in twisting, and fabrication related issues resulting in bowing. At America’s Gate Company, we must also take into consideration of the installation. We must ensure that we have properly engineered the gate footing, foundational issues, and gate post selection. The gate must have a design so that it can be installed without considerable on-site engineering and provide for future gate adjustments.
In the attached photo, you can see the first gate leaf being tested under a considerable load in our fabrication facility. We fully assemble all of our extraordinarily large gates to shop test and adjust prior to shipping. In the first testing of this gate, it performed flawlessly as the gate hung true and level. If you look closely in the photo you will note that the gate is actually a pie shape. This is America’s Gate Company’s own unique shape design. By adding the three-dimensional quality to the gate, we are able to overcome wind loading and twisting issues under load. This unique design also allows for an additional set of diagonal support cables that support the cantilevered load of the gate.
America’s Gate Company will only use pre-engineered and tested hinges and hardware. On this gate, we used a 3000 pound rated barrel hinge. By modifying these hinges, we are better able to support the gate in the full open position by providing additional gusset supports on the sides of each barrel.
America’s Gate Company provides tested and proven gate designs in PDF and CAD, and a full set of gate specifications on our website for you to use. Using this will take the guessing out of gates. Please visit our website at www.americasgatecompany.com.