There Are Gates, And There are GATES

An automated high security gate guards the Pearl Harbor pier. Together with a sentry, the system controls access and protects from terrorist intrusions.

A historic Hawaiian military facility has installed pier gates that are more barriers than convenient entrances. The automated, linear gates protect vulnerable piers at Naval Station Pearl Harbor and help create a protective barrier between terrorists and in-port assets. The equipment was installed as part of an overall regional effort to increase the force protection posture of critical assets at strategic locations.

“The Navy installed this barrier system in order to provide an adequate level of force protection while maintaining a high level of efficiency on the piers. In other words, we’ve been able to increase our force protection posture without impacting the mission of fleet support,” said Andrew Iuvale, anti-terrorism director, Navy Region Hawaii. “Before the Delta Scientific (Valencia, Calif.) SC3000 gates were installed, as one approached the pier they came upon a swing gate guarded by a sentry. It was the sentry’s responsibility exclusively to assess and then grant or deny access. For a bad guy to access the piers, they only had to overcome the sentry.”

Automated vehicle identification systems, often driven by passive RFID tags, can provide both security and convenience when tied to a gate operator.

Now, the piers have a gate or kiosk system that protects the sentry, who remains in the gatehouse and cannot be touched. Anyone attempting to gain access has to slide credentials through a pass window to the sentry.

“However, even if someone could take out a sentry in the gatehouse, they still cannot get through the gates,” Iuvale explained.

Some gates and gate operators aim more for convenience over high security, allowing vehicles in through use of an access card or radio frequency identification technology.

A typical gate operator can also open through use of a radio receiver system as well as run off of solar panels.

A case in point: automated vehicle identification systems. According to Doug Cram of AWID, Monsey, N.Y., access is granted as the system reads a tag affixed to the vehicle. With passive tag technology, the cost of the technology has been slashed. Such a system uses a tag with no battery that absorbs the RF from the reader and reflects the signal back to the reader. Passive tag systems manufactured by U.S. companies operate in the 902 to 928 MHz band and are FCC Part 15 compliant, meaning there is no need for FCC site licensing, said Cram.

An example of a more typical gate operator, from Elmhurst, Ill.-based Chamberlain Professional Products, is the LifeMaster LA400 linear gate operator. In this design, a 24VDC motor is for durability and will operate gates up to 15-feet wide and weighing up to 550 pounds. In addition, an alarm-reset button has been added to the outside of the control box. This button resets the alarm in the event of a double-entrapment.

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