Residents of Johannesburg and Midrand have long been witness to the enormous developments happening around the Kyalami/Woodmead area. The project is Waterfall, a large residential and business development project that promises luxury, exclusivity and security.
Waterfall Investment Company, together with Century Property Developments, are the residential developers.
To ensure the security of its residents, the developers focused on securing the premises which comprises a number of access gatehouses as well as a substantial perimeter around the estate. The development comprises five estates namely Waterfall Equestrian Estate and Waterfall Hills Retirement Estate, which had been completed previously, the Waterfall Country Estate, Waterfall Village Estate and Waterfall Valley Retirement Estate, which comprised the final phase of the residential development.
To secure the residential sections, the developers issued a closed tender to five companies. 4C Technology was awarded the tender to secure the 14 km perimeter as well as the eight entry/exit gatehouses, as well as the back-integration of Waterfall Hills Retirement Estate into the system.
Paul Frewen, CEO of 4C Technology, says that the 14 km perimeter presented many challenges, the most critical being the Jukskei River that runs through the estate. Securing the river ingress and exit from the estate was especially challenging and required added measures to ensure the areas were secured.
To secure the perimeter, 4C made use of 98 cameras, a combination of thermal imaging cameras and analogue cameras with infrared lighting. A total of 68 FLIR thermal cameras and 30 analogue cameras were installed. All the cameras are equipped with VideoIQ video analytics and are linked back to a central command control room where operators are able to view events and take the appropriate course of action. All the recording and analytics are done on the edge i.e. at the camera and only relevant information is transmitted to the command centre. Local distributor, Timeless Technologies, supplied the FLIR thermal cameras and video analytics.
Video analytics
In the areas where the Jukskei River enters and exits the estate, additional cameras were installed along with lighting from Raytec, supplied by GIS SA (see 'Throwing light on the subject' below). The lighting is controlled via the cameras from the control room, allowing operators to flood the area with instant light when an alarm is raised. In addition, the control room can communicate remotely via the cameras to outdoor audio speakers installed at the river to warn off intruders or anyone in the vicinity.
To link the cameras and the command control room, a dual redundant fibre backbone was installed to ensure uninterrupted communication to the command centre. In addition to this, dedicated power reticulation was installed with UPS and generator backup to the entire security infrastructure.
When an incident or event is detected, the operator in the command control room can assess the situation and implement the appropriate action.
Gatehouses under watch
Similarly, 4C also set up the command control room to centrally monitor the cameras at the eight gatehouses, which serve to control the access into and out of the estates. A total of 40 spiked barriers from Boomgate Systems and 14 turnstiles from Turnstar were installed at the gatehouses, along with 150 cameras, all linked to the command centre to centrally manage the entry and exit points. The perimeter and each gatehouse is monitored and managed independently to ensure more precise security measures.
Each lane at the gatehouses is monitored by a licence plate recognition camera as well as a facial camera to record people and vehicles as they enter or exit the premises. Additional cameras are also installed to provide specific views and information of vehicle and pedestrian traffic, including the approaches to each of the gatehouses, which is covered with cameras with infrared illumination.
To ensure secure, but simple access for estate residents, fingerprint access control was implemented to allow residents to come and go with ease.
A visitor management system was also installed and will be integrated into the access control system. Residents receiving guests issue five-digit codes to their visitors via the estates portal – also available via cellphone. When visitors arrive, they present their code and their driver’s licence to the security operator who scans both the licence and the vehicle licence disc. Security verifies the cellular number and name of the visitor and if the information does not match, an alarm is raised and the guards refer the matter to the resident or refuse entry. All the information is securely stored on a central database.
The security project was completed by 4C in May this year, and supports the continued growth of the estate, avoiding access congestion and perimeter intrusions.
For more information, contact Paul Frewen, 4C Technology, +27 (0)11 608 0596, paul@4c-technology.com, www.4c-technology.com
Throwing light on the subject
While it’s often a forgotten part of a surveillance solution, lighting is still an important aspect of surveillance. Roston Sadie, MD of GIS SA, distributors of Raytec’s range of lighting products in South Africa, spoke to Hi-Tech Security Solutions about the lighting on the Waterfall Estate; 4C Technology approached GIS SA to assist with provisioning of lighting for both perimeter IR illumination and general white light.
In the Waterfall Estate project, infrared (IR) lighting from Raytec was used to support the analogue cameras along the perimeter of the estate. The Raytec Vario i8-1 IR lights provided short-range illumination in total or partial darkness, allowing the control room to make accurate decisions as to what action to take.
The product chosen illuminated distances up to 120 m at 30°, but Raytec can provide IR illumination over distances of up to 1 km. Raytec also provides Elliptical Beam HRT (Hotspot Reduction Technology) for smoother images.
In the areas where the Jukskei River enters and exits the estate, Raytec’s RL300-AI-30 triple panel white light illuminators were installed, once again connected to the VideoIQ analytics system. When movement was detected, the lights were triggered, illuminating up to 100 m at 60°, and allowing the control room operators to take action.
For more information contact Roston Sadie, GIS SA, +27 (0)71 560 4151, roston@gis-sa.net
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