Armco crash barriers for the yard.

Galvanised corrugated steel beam on bolt-down or cast-in posts, put between vehicles and the things a vehicle must never reach. Gas cages, bulk tanks, sub-stations, charge points, sprinkler valve sets, building corners and pedestrian routes.

Also searched as Amcor barrier. Same product, same corrugated profile.

Book a free site survey See the specification

Yellow pedestrian barrier rail along a warehouse wall with a forklift

Heights: 560 to 1100mm
Post centres: 3.2m1.6m high risk
Steel: 3mm S275
Finish: GalvanisedBS EN ISO 1461

What ends up needing protecting.

Almost every yard has two or three assets that cost far more to repair than a barrier costs to install, and they are usually the ones sitting closest to a turning circle.

Gas cages and cylinder stores

Usually sited on an outside wall in the path of reversing vehicles. A strike here is a dangerous occurrence, not a repair bill.

Bulk tanks and fuel points

Diesel, AdBlue and process tanks, plus the pumps and pipework around them.

Electrical sub-stations

Transformers, switch rooms and distribution boards, where a strike takes the whole site down.

Sprinkler valve sets

Riser and valve assemblies that the fire strategy depends on, often left completely exposed.

EV charge bays

Charge posts and cabling, protected with kerb barriers and bollards. A growing need almost nobody in storage is covering.

Building corners and columns

Portal frame legs and brick corners that take repeated glancing hits from trailers.

Pedestrian routes and doors

Segregating people from vehicles where a walkway meets a yard or a personnel door opens onto traffic.

Loading bays and dock levellers

Guiding trailers in and keeping them off the dock face and the leveller edges.

Racking against an outside wall

Where yard traffic runs behind a run of racking and an impact would reach the frames.

Height is set by the vehicle.

Measured from finished ground level to the top of the beam, so the beam meets the vehicle near its centre of gravity instead of riding under the chassis or over the bumper.

Post height above ground, by traffic type.
Height	Traffic	Typical position
560mm	Forklift and counterbalance truck areas	Inside buildings, yard aisles, plant protection
610mm	Cars, vans and light goods vehicles	Car parks, visitor areas, site perimeters
760mm	HGV traffic, single beam	Service yards, delivery routes, industrial premises
1100mm	HGV traffic, double beam	Loading bays and the heaviest traffic positions

Post height above ground, by traffic type.

560mm: Forklift and counterbalance truck areas
610mm: Cars, vans and light goods vehicles
760mm: HGV traffic, single beam
1100mm: HGV traffic, double beam

Beam length: 3.5mGiving 3.2m of effective coverage once lapped and bolted. 1.9m sections for short runs.
Post spacing: 3.2m centresHalved to 1.6m centres where impact risk is high, which doubles the strength of the run.
Steel gauge: 3mmS275 mild steel, corrugated profile. 2.7mm available on lighter duty runs.
Finish: Hot dip galvanisedTo BS EN ISO 1461. Powder coating to a RAL colour where the yard needs high visibility.
Post types: Z-section or RSJBolt-down onto a sound slab, or cast-in where the surface will not hold an anchor.
Ends: Three optionsFishtail, bullnose or pedestrian-safe, so no run terminates in an open beam end.
Corners: 90° int and extPlus fabricated angles, and curved beams for a radius under 50m.
Fixings: M16 throughoutLap bolts, post bolts and anchors, with buffer strips where vibration is a concern.

Built from a kit, so it fits the yard you have.

Runs are made up from standard beams, posts, corners and end sections, which is why an awkward corner, a doorway or a fuel point in the wrong place is a specification question rather than a fabrication job.

Ends matter more than people expect. An unfinished beam end at head height in a walkway is a hazard in its own right, so runs terminate in a fishtail, a bullnose or a pedestrian-safe end.

Corrugated beam

The working part. Spreads the impact along the run rather than into one point.

Posts

Z-section for general use, RSJ where the strike energy is higher.

Base plates and anchors

Bolt-down onto concrete, sized against the slab, not assumed.

Cast-in posts

Set into a new pour or an excavated foundation where bolting down will not hold.

Fishtail ends

The standard finish, tapering the beam back to the post.

Pedestrian-safe ends

Rounded and capped where a walkway passes the end of a run. Bullnose ends are the third option.

Corners and radius beams

Internal, external and fabricated angles, plus curves under a 50m radius.

Bollards and hoop guards

For single assets and doorways where a full beam run would be excessive.

Steel outside, polymer inside.

The two do different jobs and the choice is usually decided by what happens after the strike. Galvanised steel stops a heavy vehicle and stays bent. Polymer absorbs a forklift knock and returns to shape, which is what you want beside racking where repeated low speed contact is a fact of life.

Galvanised steel Armco

For vehicles with mass behind them: HGVs, trailers, yard shunters. It stops the vehicle and takes permanent damage doing it, which is the correct trade when the alternative is a gas cage or a sub-station. Outdoor, galvanised, replaceable a section at a time.

Polymer rack protection

For repeated low speed forklift contact against racking and columns. Absorbs the energy and returns to its original shape, rather than deforming and transmitting load into the floor fixings and slab.

Bollards and kerb barriers

For a single asset in a tight position: a doorway, a charge post, a control panel. Cheaper and quicker than a run, and often all that is needed.

Read the case for polymer on the rack protection page.

Where Armco is the wrong answer.

Worth stating plainly, because getting this wrong is expensive and nobody publishes it.

Not for the public highway

These systems are not tested to BS EN 1317, so they are specified off-highway only: private yards, service roads, car parks and inside buildings.

It needs something to fix into

A bolt-down post is only as good as the slab beneath it. Poor or thin concrete means cast-in posts or a foundation, which changes the cost.

It deforms permanently

Steel does not spring back. Where the same position is clipped weekly by a forklift, polymer protection is the cheaper answer over a year.

It is not a security barrier

It stops accidental impact at yard speeds. Deliberate forced entry is a different specification.

It does not fix the cause

Repeated strikes in one position point at layout, aisle width or truck choice. Protect it, then look at why it keeps happening.

Installed around the traffic, not instead of it.

A yard cannot close while a barrier goes in. Work is sectioned so one area is segregated at a time and deliveries keep moving, with risk assessments and method statements issued before anyone attends.

Step 1
Yard walk and marked layout
Traffic routes, turning circles and exposed assets identified, then post positions and heights marked on a drawing.
Step 2
Slab and fixing check
Establishes bolt-down or cast-in, which is the single biggest cost variable.
Step 3
Sectioned installation
One area segregated at a time so deliveries keep running, with RAMS issued before attendance.
Step 4
Handover
Layout drawing showing what was installed where, so a struck section can be re-ordered by reference later.

Struck sections are replaced the same way: one bay at a time, beam and post swapped, no need to strip the run. Prefer to fit it yourselves? Barriers are supplied with beams, posts, ends and M16 fixings to the marked layout.

Protection is one stage of a loop.

Each stage produces the next. Repeated damage in the same location is a symptom, and the cause is usually layout, systematic overloading or truck and aisle geometry.

Barrier questions.

Armco is the correct name. It comes from the American Rolling Mill Company, which developed the corrugated beam profile, and Amcor is a common misspelling of it. Both refer to the same product: a galvanised corrugated steel beam bolted to steel posts, used off the public highway to stop vehicles reaching whatever is behind it.

Height is set by the vehicle you are protecting against, measured from finished ground level to the top of the beam. 560mm for forklift areas, 610mm for cars and light goods vehicles, 760mm for HGV traffic on a single beam, and 1100mm for a double beam in the heaviest traffic. The aim is for the beam to strike the vehicle near its centre of gravity rather than ride under or over it.

Standard spacing is 3.2m centres, which is one post per beam lap. In high impact positions, spacing halves to 1.6m centres and doubles the strength of the run. Every run needs one extra post to finish the final beam.

Yes, where the slab is sound. Bolt-down posts on a base plate suit concrete in reasonable condition, and cast-in posts are used in new slabs or where the surface will not hold an anchor. The survey establishes which the yard will take, because the slab is what the barrier ultimately relies on.

No. These systems are not tested to BS EN 1317 and are not for the public highway. They are specified for private yards, service roads, car parks, loading areas and inside buildings, which is where almost all industrial impact protection is needed.

Galvanised steel absorbs the impact by deforming, and it stays deformed. A struck beam or post is replaced rather than straightened, in the same way as a damaged racking component, because the steel no longer performs as designed. Individual beams and posts can be swapped without taking down the run.

Yes, and it is one of the most common reasons for asking. Gas cages, bulk tanks, fuel and AdBlue points, electrical sub-stations, sprinkler valve sets and EV charge bays all sit in traffic routes and all cause far more trouble when struck than the barrier costs. Protection is usually specified as a three-sided or full enclosure rather than a single run.

Either. As Armco barrier suppliers we can deliver beams, posts, ends and fixings for your own team to install, or survey, specify and install the run ourselves. Installation is planned around yard traffic, with the affected area segregated one section at a time so deliveries keep running.

Surveyed with the racking, quoted separately

Get the yard walked.

One visit covers the racking, the yard and the traffic routes. You get a marked-up layout showing post positions and heights, and a priced quotation. No charge, no obligation.

Book a free site survey Call 07814 627770