Temporary Fencing History & Advice
We are frequently contacted with questions from managers & builders asking for advice that will help them select the best temporary fencing product that meets the correct level of security and safety at a reasonable cost. With this in mind, we thought it beneficial to our customers to summarise some of these queries to provide general advice on selecting the correct temporary fence for your project.
History of Temporary Fencing
Temporary fencing was developed in the 1980’s to provide a cost effective barrier that could be installed rapidly and deter unwanted intruders from gaining access onto construction sites, musical festivals and sporting events. Originally the product was supplied in the form of a mesh panel that sat in concrete bases and fixed together using a simple hook that located in the top of the adjacent fence panel.
Temporary fence panels rapidly developed in order to comply with Health and Safety guidance regulations (GS7 and HSG 151) having finer anticlimb mesh, lightweight frames and rubber bases made from recycled plastic. Typical names associated with temporary fecning were S&B Alcatraz, Blok & Mesh, Fairmile, ROM, B&R and Safeguard. Most of these companies have since ceased manufacturing leaving Panel Shop as the only UK owned volume manufacturer with a number of foreign companies who mostly import.
Temporary Fencing Applications
Temporary fencing has many different applications, the main three applications are listed below although they all share common requirements:
Construction/Building Sites
The main purpose of temporary fencing around a construction site is to restrict public access in the interests of health and safety. This type of fencing also serves in securing the construction site while it is closed out of working hours. Where greater privacy is required, hoarding panels are used to obstruct sight which also helps restrict public view from unsightly construction sites in built up areas.
Music Festivals
Most outdoor festivals are setup temporarily on grounds that cannot be altered or damaged by permanent structures. Temporary fencing provides a useful barrier to restrict access into an event as well as guiding visitors from areas of the site towards ticket stalls or music stages. This form of crowd control also aids in creating a smooth flow of traffic as opposed to people hoarding around areas of interest.
Sporting Events
Some sporting events like marathons and bike races often use public roads which need to be cordoned off to ensure traffic is safely redirected away from the event. Pedestrian barriers also maintain safety ensuring spectators cannot encroach on the race track without restricting view of the event.
Types of Temporary Fecning
Panel Shop supply a range of temporary fencing panels and ancillaries including standard fence panels, heavy duty temporary fencing, safemesh fence panels, anticlimb temporary fence panels, barbed wire extensions, gates, pedestrian gates, fencing backstays, temporary fencing stabilisers, windjammers, dk system, temporary fencing bases, rubber fence feet and recycled plastic bases.
Temporary fencing panels can be connected together using either fencing couplers or anti-tamper couplers. It is advisable to use 2 couplers per joint and an antilift device can be attached to the bottom coupler to prevent the panels been lifted allowing access under the temporary fence. There will be a British Standard for temporary fencing in place by late 2010 early 2011.
Temporary fencing, steel hoarding and pedestrian barriers can be supplied in powder coated finishes to suit corporate requirements.
Steel Hording
Since the introduction of temporary fencing the market has also demanded a reusable steel hoarding to replace timber hoardings. Steel sheets were inserted into a steel frame and again located into concrete or plastic bases. Steel Hoarding panels became known as Barricade panels.
The solid steel infill makes them vulnerable to the wind and traditional temporary fencing stabilisation is not suitable. Ideally steel hoarding panels should be fixed to steel posts located into pre drilled holes or concreted into the ground. If ground penetration is not possible then Barricade panels should be fixed by using a windjammer type free standing stabilisation arrangement utilising ballast weights to create enough resistance to wind forces hitting the fence line.
Steel hoarding panels should be robust enough to withstand multi re-use and the profiled sheets should be thick enough to prevent damage from objects striking the face of the Barricade. Normally a minimum sheet thickness of 0.7mm should be used which will withstand ant attempts to push the sheets out of the steel hoarding panel allowing access onto a site. Other types of continuous steel hoarding are available with the most advanced product been Steelhoard.
Prdestrian Barriers
Pedestrian barriers are an ideal product for segregating pedestrians from roadways, car parks, sports events and music concerts. Pedestrian barriers are supplied in sizes ranging from 2.5m to 3.5m long and are fabricated from a tubular steel frame with either a mesh insert or vertical bars welded.
Pedestrian barriers are sometimes called crowd barriers and are ideal for a wide variety of uses as they are light, robust and designed for maximum re-use.
Summary
We hope you found this article helpful, if you have any further questions about temporary fencing or would like more information about the products we manufacture please don't hesitate to contact us.