Jewers Doors has installed eight of its Swift- SEW and two smaller Swift horizontal bi-folding doors at Transport for London (TfL)’s new operations, maintenance and control (OMC) depot for the Elizabeth line at Old Oak Common, West London, UK.
This new state-of-the-art nine-track, train maintenance building is part of the £142m contract awarded to Taylor Woodrow and will accommodate 33 trains while routine maintenance is carried out.
Keith Fulton, Associate Architect with RPS Consulting Services Limited, the Lead Designer for the new OMC depot commented: “In addition to securing the building, there were a range of practical issues that were critical in the design of these doors. The major factor was accommodating live overhead electrification lines (OLE) which meant vertical opening doors would have been impractical.
“These were eight extremely large openings so effective thermal and acoustic insulation was important for the doors to ensure compliance with TfL’s strict environmental requirements.”
Each door is 4m wide and 6.6m high, comprising four highly insulated, single piece composite panels, with two leaves folding to each side when open. An 850mm x 760mm cut-out in the door allows an OLE cable to pass through the closed door. The cut-out is lined with 9mm thick safety matting tested to 30kVA to prevent bird entry, and for additional safety, the door is earthed back to the structure with suitably rated earth bonding braids.
For visibility when closed, each door panel incorporates a 600mm x 600mm argon filled, toughened glass, double glazed vision panel, and is fitted with multi-wall rubber seals to all edges to reduce water, air and dust ingress.
To meet the environmental criteria, panels are injected with CFC-free polyurethane foam providing a thermal efficiency U-value of 1.1W/m2/°C and noise reduction of 25dB. To eliminate the spread of fire and to provide great rigidity and strength, panels incorporate an internal steel frame to all edges.
The doors are operated by a powerful, centrally mounted SEW drive unit, combined with a purpose designed control panel incorporating inverter control for smooth starts and stops.
The system takes less than eight seconds to fully open and close, and safety is ensured with full height pressure sensitive safety edges and photocell beams to create a safe zone around the door during operation.
In addition to the drive unit holding the door in the closed position, a pair of automatic solenoid floor bolts provide additional security, and prevent wind-damage. In the event of power failure, a low-level disengage handle enables the doors to be opened quickly by hand from ground level.
Fulton added: “This is a high-profile flagship project and as Jewers are a tried and tested company in the rail sector, we were confident that the doors would be of the highest quality, fully meet the spec and provide reliable service for many years to come.”