Everything You Need to Know About Snow Gates

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If you live in the northern hemisphere, there’s a good chance that winter means snow, and in some cases, lots of it. Snow gates are a great solution that allows pedestrian and vehicle access even when there’s a foot or more of snow on the ground.

In this article, we’re going to look at how the various types of snow gate work, and there’s also a downloadable design drawing for a pedestrian snow gate at the end of this article.

What Are Snow Gates?

Snow gates are gates that are designed to be usable even when there’s a lot of snow built up around them. This is done by essentially creating a gate within a gate.

These secondary gates are a foot or more above the bottom rail of the main gate, which means they can still be opened if there is snow built up along the gate. This is particularly useful for sites and areas that don’t have regular maintenance and snow clearing, like industrial sites or substations.

Pedestrian Snow Gates

Pedestrian snow gates (like our downloadable design drawing) are designed to allow pedestrian access to and from a site when there has been heavy snow. They are hinged to a vertical support on the gate, and they latch and lock onto another – usually the center vertical.

When the pedestrian gate is locked in place, and there’s no snow, the gate works just like any normal swing gate. When it’s unlocked, it swings independently of the main gate, allowing pedestrians to access the site.

Vehicle Snow Gates

Of course, sometimes, you need access and egress by vehicles and people – not just people on foot.

The solution is vehicle snow gates.

These are gates that are effectively two leaves stacked on top of each other, capable of independent operation but latched together when there’s no snow.

When snow falls and builds up on the gate, the bottom leaf can be unlatched from the top leaf, allowing the portion of the gate above the snow to swing open and closed.

Sliding Snow Gates

Sliding gates are used on many sites too, and they do present a little more of a challenge when it comes to dealing with snow.

To make your site accessible to pedestrians, you can build a pedestrian snow gate or wicket gate into the body of the sliding gate itself.

To make the gate itself usable when there’s snow build-up, you can use a sweeper bar, which is a hinged panel attached to the bottom of the gate that can be raised and latched into place a foot or two above the snow, and then dropped back down in the spring when the snow melts.

Always Custom

Snow gates are nearly always custom-made. There are so many variables, including the opening size, the access and egress requirements, gate hardware and more.

It’s a good idea to know how much snow your site usually gets too so that your gates can be designed to accommodate it.

You also want to exercise caution when you’re thinking of automating snow gates. You may require additional safety equipment to ensure that they are safe to use in every season.