Safety Bollards: A Cost-Efficient Barrier Choice

Bollards are among the least imposing, yet most highly recognisable physical barriers used in both public spaces and on private premises. That’s because in spite of their size, they provide an instantly identifiable boundary to regulate the movement of cars, pedestrians and other types of traffic, all without becoming a visual or institutional burden themselves.

Unlike the heavy barricades and concrete barriers that are often used for movement control, it’s the subtle psychology behind bollards that makes them so effective. Instead of relying on an overbearing presence, bollards provide tempered movement control that still allows pedestrians to navigate freely around them. People are less likely to feel infringed on by bollarded movement cues, therefore they’re more likely to follow them – that makes now the right time for anyone who needs positive crowd control to consider buying bollards.

Bollards Are the Subtle Solution For Tempered Safety and Security

Whether it’s their highly visible colouring and messaging, or their wide range of applications, security and safety bollards are among the most versatile barrier types in use today. From car parks and airports, to sidewalks and storefronts, their easy indoor and outdoor deployment illustrates how adaptable they are for a wide range of environments and circumstances. And with their modest heights and small footprints, they’re proof that perimeter and protective barriers don’t have to be oversized and intimidating to be effective.

Although bollard designs can vary from retractable anti-ram mechanisms, to pre-cast concrete monoliths, by far the most common type is the centurion-style post bollard. These thin-profile steel bollards are the perfect solution for all types of traffic control and property protection, and are based on a core of fixed attributes that include:

• Round or square mild 5mm steel wall construction;
• A choice of surface or in-ground mounting variations with concrete anchors or anchor castings;
• Fully welded surface-mount bases, or welded concrete starter bars for in-ground mounting;
• A standard height range of 900mm – 1200mm, and diameter range of 60mm – 140mm; and,
• Add-on chain ring retrofits for easier barrier creation.

With their tough, powdercoated safety yellow paint and optional reflective red caps, centurion-style bollards are the perfect partner for a limitless range of residential, commercial and municipal barrier-type protection jobs. Their caps can even be removed and the posts filled with concrete for added strength, helping ensure that their subtle psychology doesn’t lack for a truly secure footing.

Post-Type Bollards Are the Perfect Choice For Full Time Premise Protection 

Centurion-style security bollards come in two types: post and folding configurations. Both security posts perform the same general function of managing pedestrian and vehicle traffic, and are especially well-suited for delineating sections of infrastructure and guarding fixed installations. As such, centurion-style posts are able to satisfy an array of safe, flexible access functions that pure security bollards aren’t very good at, including:

• Public and pedestrian spaces. Post-type bollards excel at demarking areas like bus stops, and cycle and pedestrian pathways, as well as playgrounds, parks, and nature strips.
• Retail and commercial spaces. Storefronts and building entrances, along with car parks and warehouse loading docks are all able to benefit from the managed access allowed by posts.
• Shared infrastructure spaces. Post-type bollards provide safety for petrol pumps, pay phones, and all types of ATM, city service, and vendor kiosks without restricting pedestrian access.

Post-type bollards are also the perfect alternative to the costly and restrictive guardrail-style barriers commonly used in warehouses, factories and fulfillment centres. They provide full-coverage protection for rack systems and plant equipment against forklifts and reach trucks, without obligating employees to walk around the barrier, or encouraging them to take dangerous shortcuts over or between the rails.

Versatile Folding-Type Bollards Make Vehicle Access Effortless

While post-style bollards could rightfully be any organisation’s first choice for safely and flexibly managing traffic and pedestrian movement, controlling vehicle parking requires a more nuanced approach. Not counting paid-for residential and unbundled parking spaces, courier vans and other types of specialised delivery vehicles frequently need quick access to parking for loading and unloading. This is where the versatility of folding-type safety bollard fixtures help ensure vehicle access remains effortless.

Folding centurion-style safety bollards provide the same tempered movement benefits that post-type bollards do, except they’re engineered for vehicles and offer a selection of attributes that include:

• Welded surface-mounting, or in-ground base with mild steel sign face;
• A padlockable design that restricts use to authorised entities only; and,
• An average collapsed height of only 50mm and raised height of up to 800mm.

With their safety yellow colouring and full-sized highly reflective/high visibility signage, folding bollards are perfect for managing car and truck access at emergency and business entrances, commercial loading zones, and private driveways and car parks. And when it comes to the psychology behind bollards and all round versatility, folding-type bollards are matched only by hybrid-style removable bollards.

Hybrid Removable Bollards Are the Key to Custom Movement Control

Removable surface-mount bollards are the perfect compromise between post-type centurion and folding-type bollards, with shoe-locking removables representing the very best of them. Like standard removables, shoe-locking removables are designed for pedestrian locations that require only periodic vehicle access. Instead of relying on embedment sleeves to lock into position though, these hybrid removables are attached to surface-mounted receiver shoes. This design specifically eliminates the need to drill through certain floorings, and boasts a foundation of alternate fixing features that include:

• Round 5mm steel post construction, with heights up to 950mm;
• 20mm tall heavy steel receiver shoes, requiring fixing only to a depth of 65mm; and,
• High security locking keys or T-handle key locks.

The practical advantages of surface-mounted shoe-locking removables are especially evident in that they don’t require drilling of the mounting surface. And because individual removable bollards aren’t keyed to any particular mounting shoe, multiple shoes can be purchased to give businesses a range of mounting opportunities that can be arranged for the most precise movement controls possible.

The Final Word

At the end of the day, a barrier’s effectiveness has less to do with its size than it does with the psychology behind it. Pedestrian and vehicle movements are noticeably easier to control when barriers don’t present themselves as sheer obstacles. That’s where the advantage of bollards pays big dividends.

With their wide range of variations and applications, safety and security bollards are the smart, efficient choice for managing movement. They’re the perfect choice for all types of public and residential traffic control – and they do the job better and more economically than any other type of barrier on the market.