Entrance gate Carmel to Parque Güell has been completely overhauled

Safety is a top priority, as around 11 tons are moved here by hand every morning and evening

The hinged gate at the side entrance to Park Güell, the Puerta del acceso de Carmel, was showing its age. The gate was built in one piece in 1992: 6 m wide, between 2.25 and 2.7 m high and 45 cm thick. It consists of a steel structure covered on the outside with a panel that looks like masonry, so that when closed, the gate is practically indistinguishable from the wall of the park. It rests solely on a 250 mm thick axle around which it rotates. There was no guide wheel on the ground as the gate moves on a slight incline.

There was previously no safety feature, as the gate is only moved when there is no public traffic. However, the employees who had to move the gate every morning and evening had to use a lot of strength and dexterity. The gate was not allowed to speed up, especially when closing, despite the sloping terrain. Because 11 tons can otherwise not be controlled. This also caused problems from time to time when the door hit the frame too quickly when closing.

They urgently needed a braking device to adapt the door to current safety requirements

At the end of 2022, the door was then removed, which was not possible without heavy equipment, and taken to a specialist for refurbishment. It was opened lengthwise (one of the outer panels was removed) and then dismantled back into the original 3 parts (which were bolted and welded together). The axle, on which the entire load rests, had to be reconditioned and the bearings replaced. In addition, a running wheel was to be installed on the front edge of the door – as invisibly as possible – on which the door runs when opening and closing.

An important part of the repair work was to install a damping system for the door movement so that the door could not exceed a certain speed. DICTATOR solved this by means of a complex mechanism that controls the running wheel.

The biggest challenges for DICTATOR included:

• There was very little space available inside the door
• The door runs on an incline. This means that the running wheel must be movable in height. The further the door is opened, the further the running wheel has to disappear into the door. When the gate is closed, it must slowly emerge from the gate again with the sloping terrain. In total, there is a height difference of approx. 70 mm!
• The braking system should not be active at all when the door is pushed on, as otherwise the force required to move the door would have been even greater than before.
• There was very little time available. There were no detailed plans of the inside of the gate, so it was only possible to start developing a damping mechanism after the gate had been removed and opened. Design, testing, production and assembly had to be completed within 5 months.

DICTATOR developed a special damping construction so that the speed of the door is now reliably controlled and moving the door does not require more force

DICTATOR Española has decades of experience in solving special requirements for moving, automating or slowing down large and heavy doors. The gate of Park Gūell was a special challenge, which DICTATOR nevertheless solved within the short time available. The solution consisted of an eddy current brake, which is normally used in sliding gates for speed control over the entire travel. Multiple gear ratios to the running wheel ensured that the force of the eddy current brake is barely noticeable when the door is pushed. The entire construction was placed in a special housing that runs on rails inside the door. This allows it to adapt to the terrain level and the running wheel is always in firm contact with the ground.

An inspection opening has been made in the outer shell of the door in the area of the brake construction – but this can only be seen if you look very closely. If required, a handbrake can also be fitted, but this has not been necessary to date due to the excellent functioning of the speed control.

The “Acceso Carmel” entrance gate to Park Güell is 6 m wide and between 2.20 and 2.70 m high – and weighs around 11 tons!

The cladding, which looks like a stone wall from the outside, has been removed on one side. The core of the gate is a 25 mm thick steel construction. At the very back you can see where the axle runs.

The outer cladding consists of 3 parts. These were screwed together and then additionally welded. The 3 parts had to be separated again for refurbishment. Here you can see the outer cladding from the inside.

The entire damping system is installed vertically and freely movable in the door, so that level differences in the terrain do not pose a problem. The wheel is always pressed firmly to the ground due to the construction’s own weight of almost 140 kg.

The complex damping unit – here still in the factory. A great deal of expertise, thinking “out of the box”, the determination to find a solution and the corresponding manufacturing options were the prerequisites for success.

The gate is closed. If you didn’t know it was a gate, you would think it was part of the wall.
If you take a closer look, you can see the inspection opening that is still open here, behind which the damping construction is concealed.