How much does Armco barrier cost vs a polymer barrier. Cost and price guide

You want to find out out how much a steel barrier or Armco type barrier is going to cost you and you have ended up here. How much do Armco barriers cost for your warehouse or factory?

Some people often refer to them as 'Armco' barriers which is more of a household brand like 'Coke' or Hoover'. The generic name for these is 'Steel' barriers.

Whether you call them steel or 'Armco', we’ve got you covered. As barrier specialists here at Clarity, we know everything there is to know about this barrier technology. We supply and install over one hundred kilometres of barrier every year. 

We wrote this article to educate you on some of the things that you need to know before choosing to use steel barrier. By the end of the article, you will have some idea what you need.

Costs of warehouse barriers: A couple of things to consider

There are two things to consider when researching warehouse barriers:

• The initial purchase price of the barriers
• The lifetime cost of ownership of the barriers

Firstly, lets take a look at the initial cost of of Armco barriers and polymer barriers to get an idea of how much to budget for each.

Then we'll look at the long term cost of ownership associated with each barrier type.

Armco vs polymer barrier cost comparison

Polymer barriers - initial cost

Polymer barriers are designed to absorb energy rather than transfer the shock to the bolts holding it to the floor, a bit like your airbag in your car. The difference is there are different energy absorption ratings. 

In most cases, most people don't ever have to experience airbags going off, thankfully, whereas virtually every energy absorbing barrier has had to absorb some shock at some point. The fact is that someone is struck by an FLT every 7 minutes so by incorporating an energy absorbing barrier - you don't add to this statistic...

Polymer barriers fall into four main categories:

• Pedestrian handrail - 1.1M high
• Standard Pedestrian barrier -1.1 high
• Heavy Duty Pedestrian barrier - 1.1m high
• Very Heavy duty link barrier -1.1m high

Armco steel barriers do not have a stated impact resistance however, they are available in the following options;

• Standard galvanised single rail
• Standard galvanised 2 rail to create a pedestrian protection
• Powdercoated yellow

Lets take a look at each to learn more.

Pedestrian handrail

A pedestrian handrail is typically the entry level impact resistant barrier offered by most polymer barrier manufacturers. These are designed for warehouses where the walkway needs to be protected from pallet trucks and pump trucks with a total weight of 1.5 tonne travelling at 7Km/h.

A pedestrian handrail is supplied with the following:

• All fixings required to install the barrier to a concrete floor
• Supplied as a 'slot together' set with dowels that drop into place to hold it together
• Finished height of 1.1M as legal requirement for handrails here in the UK
• All components pre-cut and drilled offsite using high precision CNC machines
• Supplied with high visibility posts (Ral 1018)
  

The obvious advantage of using a handrail barrier is that it will be lower cost than a higher impact barrier and lightweight so easy to install. 

The cost of a pedestrian handrail barrier is determined by 3 things - the number of gates, the delivery and install costs. 

Of course, if you can install the barrier yourselves - this could save you significant costs.

A pedestrian handrail barrier will cost you £120-170/M plus delivery and installation

You can expect to pay around £3600 for a straight run of 30 metres of pedestrian handrail. Plus carriage and installation.

Delivery depends on location but can vary from £250 up to £1000 depending on location and quantity of barrier ordered. for quantities less than 10 metres, the carriage starts to become more significant. install normally costs around £1500 for a 30M run.

Standard Pedestrian Barrier

A standard pedestrian barrier is suitable for most factories with smaller FLTs and pallet trucks, Unlike a Pedestrian handrail - the standard pedestrian barrier is more specifically designed for stopping and protecting against smaller FLTs and pallets.

A standard pedestrian barrier differs from a pedestrian handrail in that it has:

• Improved impact resistance to suit FLTs up to 3 tonne*
• UV resistance - can be used internally or externally
• Flat faced rails to intercept forks/pallets (prevents them riding above or below)
  
• High visibility rails (Yellow ral 1018)

*based on FLTs travelling at 7Km/h

As with a pedestrian handrail, the cost of a standard pedestrian barrier is determined by 3 things - the number of gates, the delivery and install costs.

A typical standard pedestrian barrier will cost you between £130-200/ metre depending on the number of gates, corners etc.

A straight run of 30 metres of standard pedestrian barrier will cost around £4500.

Heavy duty pedestrian barrier

A Heavy Duty pedestrian barrier is like the standard pedestrian barrier but on steroids offers 3X the impact resistance. Unlike a Standard Pedestrian - the Heavy Duty pedestrian barrier is more specifically designed for stopping and protecting against larger FLTs and MHEs

A heavy duty pedestrian barrier differs from a standard pedestrian barrier in that it has:

• Beefed up impact resistance to suit FLTs up to 8.5 tonne*

• Increased rail interceptor area

• Increased post strength and impact resistance

   

*GVW based on FLTs travelling at 7Km/h

As with a standard pedestrian barrier, the cost of a heavy duty pedestrian barrier is determined by 3 things - the number of gates/corners, the delivery, and the installation costs.

A typical heavy duty pedestrian barrier will cost you between £190-250/ metre depending on the number of gates, corner etc.

A straight run of 30 metres of heavy duty pedestrian barrier will cost around £5800.

Very heavy duty Link barrier

The very heavy duty Link barrier is designed for companies wanting the highest impact resistance, especially with FLTs over 10 tonne or travelling at speeds over 12MPH. 

A very heavy duty Link barrier differs from a heavy duty pedestrian barrier in that it has:

• Impact resistance of up to 53Kj to suit FLTs up to over 10 tonne*
• Patented height adjustable rails allowed bespoke height protection zones
• Increased post strength and impact resistance
  
  

As with a heavy duty pedestrian barrier, the cost of a heavy duty link barrier is determined by 3 things - the number of gates/corners, the delivery, and the installation costs.

A typical very heavy duty Link barrier will cost you between £250-350/ metre depending on the number of gates, corner etc.

A straight run of 30 metres of very heavy duty Link barrier will cost around £10,800.

Armco steel pedestrian segregation barrier

Armco steel barriers dont have a stated impact resistance, so for the sake of simplicity we will compare a similar size and colour barrier to the polymer barrier. While the polymer barriers are a 3 rail system - mostly in factories we will see up to 2 rails for an Armco steel barrier.

Without a specified impact resistance - we would have to accept that an Armco steel barrier would be damaged upon impact with a 3 tonne FLT travelling at 7 Km/h

There are four factors that affect the cost of an Armco steel barrier: Colour (standard galvanised or PPC yellow), delivery and install costs. There are no gate options or corner mount options with Armco steel barriers

Typically, a two rail Armco steel barrier in yellow will cost you £100-150/ Metre.

A 30 metre run of Armco will cost between 3000-3500.