Expandable Barriers
Expandable barriers close off an area where space is tight. Each unit opens out on a scissor frame to cover a walkway, aisle or work zone around a hazard, then folds back to a narrow bundle for storage. HERMEQ supplies them in plastic, steel and aluminum, in heights from about 3 ft to about 6 ft and expanded lengths of up to 13.1 ft per unit. The InstaGate expanding gate secures work zones and passageways quickly, and several models link together to build a collapsible barricade of the length a job needs. The range is used on construction and maintenance work, in public buildings and transit areas, and at events.
Plastic and metal expandable barriers and gates
Expandable barriers are the folding, freestanding part of HERMEQ's barricades, and the range divides by where a barrier stands and how often it moves, from light plastic units carried to a hazard by hand to wheeled aluminum barriers that close the same opening several times a shift.
Plastic expandable barriers
The Titan expandable safety barrier and the plastic expandable barrier are the lightest units in the range, so one worker can carry one to a spill, an open floor hatch or a maintenance job and open it out without help. Plastic does not rust or spark, which suits schools, retail floors, cleaning areas and other indoor or sheltered hazard zones. The Titan clips to further Titans for longer coverage and is also made as a yellow and black Titan barrier.
Steel expanding barriers
Steel suits barriers that stand on a hard floor for long periods or have to be seen after dark. The steel concertina barrier sits on rubber feet and folds flatter than any other unit in the range, which makes it the choice for warehouse walkway zoning where barriers are stored against a wall between uses. The metal expandable barricade with casters has a reflective yellow and black finish and removable casters, and is made for night hazard control and for restricting access in warehouses and retail spaces.
Aluminum concertina barriers
The aluminum concertina barrier is the full-size unit for closures that move during the working day. It has lockable wheels to stop it drifting once placed and interconnectors to join units into a wider line, and it comes in two expanded lengths and two heights. It is built for rail and airport concourses, facility hazard isolation and construction or maintenance closures.
InstaGate expanding gate
The InstaGate expanding gate is a powder-coated aluminum gate on braked wheels with a red and white high-visibility finish. Choose it for an access point that opens and closes repeatedly, such as a transit zone, station platform, loading bay or indoor corridor, where the gate folds back beside the opening between uses.
Indoor or outdoor expandable barricades
Where the barrier will stand settles most of the choice. Indoors and in weather-sheltered areas, the plastic barriers and the steel concertina barrier on rubber feet are the right fit, since they are light, sit flat on a finished floor and move by hand between jobs.
For open work zones, choose the aluminum concertina barrier, the InstaGate or the metal expandable barricade, whose locking wheels or casters hold a unit where it is set.
On open ground the free ends of a run are where it is most easily pushed out of line. The water-fillable post and stand is made to work with folding barriers: it is light to carry empty, gains ballast once filled and gives each end of the run a fixed point, with chain between posts covering any short gap a barrier does not fit.
Expandable barricades for facilities, sites and events
Facility maintenance and warehouse aisles
Maintenance closures inside a facility are short and frequent, so what matters is how quickly one person can fetch a barrier, open it across the problem and clear it away again. Plastic barriers suit wet floors, cleaning and open service panels, and the flat-folding steel barrier suits warehouse aisles where pedestrian walkways are kept apart from forklift routes for a shift or longer.
Stations, airports and public buildings
In transit areas and public buildings the barrier stands among members of the public, so it has to read at once as a closure and stay where it was placed when people brush past it. The aluminum concertina barrier and the InstaGate, with locking or braked wheels, are made for concourses, platforms and corridors, and the yellow and black Titan covers schools, retail and healthcare buildings.
Construction closures and night work
On a jobsite an expandable barrier closes a walkway past the work, a doorway into a building under renovation or an area around equipment, and it often stays out through changing light. Wheeled aluminum barriers handle closures that move as the work moves, and the reflective metal barricade covers hazard zones at night.
Events and access points
At events an access point is opened for deliveries and staff and closed to visitors many times a day, and an expandable barrier opens and closes that gap without lifting panels. The aluminum concertina barrier is made for event perimeter points and the InstaGate for event access control, while the Titan marks off smaller areas such as a back-of-house door.
Expandable barricade height, length and wheels
Height
Most of the range stands at about 3 ft, which is the height to mark a hazard and tell people to keep clear of it. Where people would otherwise step over the line or duck under it, as at a closed corridor, a loading bay or an entrance, choose a barrier that reaches about 6 ft: the aluminum concertina barrier and the InstaGate are both made in a taller version.
Run length and linking units
Measure the opening before ordering and compare it with the expanded length of a single unit, which across the range runs from 6.6 ft to 13.1 ft. If the opening is longer, decide where units will meet and choose a model built to link, such as the Titan or the aluminum concertina barrier, then plan what holds each end of the run.
Wheels or feet
Wheels suit a barrier that moves between positions during a shift, because one person can roll it into place and lock it there. Rubber feet suit a barrier that stands in one place on a hard floor and should not roll when it is brushed.
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Frequently Asked Questions
The trade uses several names for the same product: accordion barriers, concertina barriers, scissor gates, expanding barriers, collapsible barricades and folding barricades. An expandable barricade gate usually means a wheeled model that closes a doorway or access point.
The frame is a lattice of crossed bars joined at pivot points, so pulling one end outward opens every section at once and pushing it back collapses the whole frame. The barrier stands on its own feet, wheels or casters and needs no fixings or tools. Wheeled models lock or brake once they are in position.
An expandable barrier is a lightweight, freestanding closure for pedestrian and work areas, and it is not built to separate workers from moving vehicles or to channel traffic. For a live lane or a road closure, use water-filled road barriers or traffic barricades, which are designed for that work. An expandable barrier can still close a sidewalk or pedestrian route next to the work.
A crowd control barricade is a rigid, interlocking panel made to line a route and hold back people pressing against it at parades, concerts and venue gates. An expandable barrier is a folding closure that marks and closes an area, opens out without assembly and packs small. Choose crowd control barricades where a crowd will lean on the line, and an expandable barrier where the aim is to keep people out of a hazard or an opening.
A retractable belt barrier is a post with a webbing belt that pulls out to the next post, used to form queue lanes and guide people through lobbies and terminals. It marks a route but leaves open space above and below the belt. An expandable barrier is a solid lattice that closes the width of an opening on its own, so it suits hazards and closed areas better than queue lanes.
Expandable barriers are a visible, physical closure that keeps people out of a hazard or a closed area, and the wheeled models lock or brake so they stay where they are placed. They are freestanding and are not anchored to the ground. A closure that must resist forced entry or vehicles calls for parking and security barriers.