Zaun’s ‘ring of steel’ takes centre stage at NATO Summit

folder_openHigh Security, Temporary Events

The UK’s largest-ever police operation has passed off without major incident after parts of South Wales were locked down inside a ‘ring of steel’, reportedly the world’s biggest ever installation of temporary high-security fencing.

Up to 9,000 police were deployed for the two-day NATO Conference at Newport’s Celtic Manor and key sites in Cardiff, surrounded by miles of steel fencing.

UK security expert Zaun manufactured and installed the 13 kilometres of high-security fencing around the hotel and conference centre, Cardiff Castle, Bute Park, Cardiff Bay, the Millennium Stadium and the nearby airport to ensure the safety of delegates.

More than 60 world leaders attended the summit, including Prime Minister David Cameron, German Chancellor Angela Merkel and Barack Obama, the first-ever serving US President to visit Wales.

It prompted the UK’s largest-ever police operation involving 9,000 officers from 29 of the UK’s 43 police forces, planning to start the moment the summit was first announced in October 2013.

Two roads in Newport were closed for more than five days, while all footpaths crossing the Celtic Manor Resort were shut.

A team of 30 project managers, site managers and installers from Zaun with 35 articulated lorries of fencing, barriers and accessories put up the ‘ring of steel’, part of which ran alongside the M4 motorway at junction 24 and the A449.

Zaun designed special sections of steel panels fixed to existing fencing horizontally, then flipped upright and dropped into the Roath Basin at Cardiff Bay and next to the Millennium Bridge on the River Taff beneath the walls of Cardiff Castle.

Twelve-foot high fencing designed to resist mob attack and, in places, hostile vehicle attack also went in the village of Caerleon in the north of Newport and at a string of sites across Cardiff used by the world leaders.

And minutes after they left Cardiff Castle on Thursday night, Zaun’s team moved in and worked 24/7 to dismantle all the traffic management measures by 6.30 am on Sunday [7 Sept – ed] for the 10k Cardiff road race and fun run.

They then removed the remains of what had become a part of life in central Cardiff for weeks – and had been dubbed as Cardiff’s Berlin Wall and The Great Wall of Wales – to allow traffic and businesses to get back to normal on Monday morning [8 Sept – ed].

Police, contractors and Cardiff Council’s special events team are set to celebrate a job well done on Friday [12 Sept – ed] and to ‘say goodbye to NATO and the lovely fence’.

The summit generated its share of protests, but news channels including the BBC, ITV and Sky News reported that ‘people are trying unsuccessfully to tear down the fence’ and that ‘paper planes and pieces of wood are occasionally being thrown over the cordon’.

Mr Cameron, Mr Obama and Mrs Merkel first experienced Zaun’s RDS and SecureGuard fencing last year at the G8 summit in Enniskillen, which was previously the largest UK security operation with 8,300 officers and a cost of £60m.

Zaun also provided the security fencing in March 2014 at the Nuclear Security Summit in The Hague and last year at the influential meeting of world leaders and the world’s commercial, political and financial powers at the Bilderberg conference at The Grove in Watford.

And in 2012 across the UK, Zaun installed 20 miles of permanent and temporary fencing to secure the London 2012 Olympics, including VIP emergency gates at the Olympic Stadium which were dubbed the Obama Gates, in case of attack during the highest-profile and most sought-after events, such as Usain Bolt’s historic 100m gold medal triumph.

2014051912 NATO Conference pic 1 2014051912 nato conference pic 5

About Zaun

Zaun is the only in-house British Manufacturer of Woven and Welded Mesh Fencing Systems. For 27 years, they have been the trusted manufacturing partner for sports and physical perimeter security. With a wide range of fencing, gate, and HVM solutions they can offer Protection Through Innovation for your next project.

Located in the West Midlands, they are a privately owned company first formed in 1996 and continuing to promote British manufacturing on the world stage. A proud member of Made in Britain and Made in the West Midlands, Zaun has worked on numerous projects around the world from Border Security and Airports, to Sports and Critical National Infrastructure.

The continued investment in their manufacturing processes and systems has enabled the latest in problem-solving and innovation. At the same time, an approach to ‘The Right People in the Right Places’ puts the customer experience at the heart of their business.

The quality of their wide range of systems is assured through ISO 9001 and third-party certification for high-security and HVM solutions including LPS 1175, Secured by Design, Approved for UK Government Use (NPSA), and PAS 68.

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