The popularity of bollards has dramatically increased during the past decade due to
heightened worries about security. They are a simple, practical, and cost-effective way
of erecting anti-ram perimeter defense without creating a visual sense of a fortified
bunker. Bollards are commonly used for traffic direction and control, and in purely
attractive applications. On the other hand, metal bollards for sale can
serve many characteristics beyond security. They can be used for purely aesthetic
purposes, functioning as landscaping elements. Bollards can make visible boundaries of
any property, or split areas within sites. They can control traffic and they are often
arranged to permit pedestrian access while preventing entry of vehicles.
Removable and retractable bollards can allow different amounts of access restriction for
a variety of circumstances. They frequently tell us where we are able to and cannot
drive, park, bike, or walk, protect us from crime, shield vehicles and property from
accidents, and add aesthetic features to our own building exteriors and surrounding
areas. Bollards can incorporate other functions including lighting, surveillance
cameras, bicycle parking or perhaps seating. Decorative bollards are created in a number
of patterns to harmonize with an array of architectural styles. The prevalence of the
very common kind of security bollard, the concrete-filled steel pipe, has encouraged the
manufacturing of decorative bollards made to fit as covers over standard steel pipe
sizes, adding pleasing form to the required function.
What Is A Bollard?
A bollard is a short vertical post. Early bollards were for mooring large ships at dock,
and they are still being used today. An average marine bollard is created in cast iron
or steel and shaped somewhat like a mushroom; the enlarged top is made to prevent
mooring ropes from slipping off.
Today, the phrase bollard also describes a variety of structures applied to streets,
around buildings, as well as in landscaping. In accordance with legend, the first street
bollards were actually cannons – sometimes reported to be captured enemy weapons –
planted in the ground as boundary posts and town markers. When the flow of former
cannons was applied up, similarly shaped iron castings were designed to match the same
functions. Bollards have since become many varieties that are widely employed on roads,
specifically in urban areas, as well as outside supermarkets, restaurants, hotels,
shops, government buildings and stadiums.
The most typical kind of bollard is fixed. The simplest is an unaesthetic steel post,
about 914 to 1219 mm (36 to 48 in.) above-grade. Specially manufactured bollards include
not merely simple posts, but also a multitude of decorative designs. Some feature square
or rectangular cross-sections, but most are cylindrical, sometimes having a domed,
angled, or flat cap. They are offered in a number of metallic, painted, and durable
powder coat finishes.
Removable bollards are used where the requirement to limit access or direct traffic
changes occasionally. Both retractable and fold-down styles are employed where selective
entry is often needed, and therefore are designed therefore the bollard can easily be
collapsed to ground level and quickly re-erected. Both retractable units may be manually
operated or automated with hydraulic movements. Movable bollards are large, heavy
objects – frequently stone or concrete – that count on their weight instead of
structural anchoring in which to stay place. They are made to be moved rarely, and then
only with heavy machinery like a fork-lift.
Bollards generally belong to three kinds of applications:
Decorative Bollards – decorative bollards for architectural and/or landscaping
highlights;
Traffic and Safety Bollards – bollards which provide asset and pedestrian safety, as well
as traffic direction; and
Security Bollards and Post Covers – decorative, impact-resistant bollard enhancements
Decorative Bollards
Some bollards are intended purely to become an ornament. As standalone architectural or
landscaping features, they are able to border, divide, or define an area. They may also
be accents, sentries, or supporting players to larger, more dramatic architectural
gesture.
Decorative bollards are manufactured to harmonize with both traditional and contemporary
architectural styles. The second lean toward visual simplicity – often straight-sided
posts with a number of reveals close to the top. Styles created to match various
historic periods usually have more elaborate shapes and surface details. Included in
this are flutes, bands, scrolls along with other ornamentation.The post-top is actually
a distinctive feature; traditional bollard design often includes elaborate decorative
finials, whereas contemporary versions frequently include a simple rounded or slanted
top to deter passersby from leaving trash or utilizing them for impromptu seating. On
the contrary, they may be sometimes made flat and broad specifically to encourage
seating. Common decorative bollard materials include iron, aluminum, stainless steel,
and concrete.
Ornamental designs with elaborate detail are usually manufactured from iron or aluminum
casting. Aluminum bollards are desirable for applications where weight is a concern, for
instance a removable bollard. Aluminum units tend to be slightly more expensive than
iron. For applications where a decorative bollard could be subjected to destructive
impact, ductile iron is really a safer choice than more brittle metals, as force will
deform the metal as opposed to shatter and transforming it into possible hazardous
flying projectiles.
Iron and aluminum bollards are usually manufactured by sand-casting – a traditional
foundry technique which is economical and well-suited to objects this size. However,
sand-cast objects frequently bear surface irregularities that have a tendency to leave
the finished product less attractive to the attention. If high-finish consistency is
desired, seek a manufacturer which will machine 100% in the surface after casting to
create units having a uniform surface for optimum visual appeal.
Finish is a vital consideration in a decorative bollard, from functional along with
aesthetic standpoints. Bollards are, by their nature, vulnerable to being scratched or
nicked by pedestrians and vehicles. Those located near roadways are in contact with a
reasonably aggressive environment; petrochemical residues and splashes of diluted road
de-icing salts may compromise some painted finishes. Factory-applied powder coating –
which can be seen on iron, aluminum, and steel – is surely an especially durable kind of
painted finish. The application form process increases a coating with very consistent
coverage. During coating, any bare metal is likely to attract the powder, eliminating
pinholes in coverage. The baking process that completes the conclusion gives it
additional toughness and abuse resistance.
In applications where greater physical abuse is predictable, plastic
bollards manufactured from aluminum can be a better choice than iron. When
the finish coat is damaged, aluminum oxidizes to some color which is generally more
acceptable than the red rust created by iron. Aluminum and stainless-steel are also
offered in a quantity of bare metal finishes. Functionality may be included in the
otherwise decorative bollard. As an example, common option is the chain eye – linking
two or more bollards with chain, creating a simple traffic direction system. A big metal
loop or arm on the side of the post allows parking and locking of bicycles, a
progressively popular choice as more people seek alternative green transportation.
Bollards may also contain lighting units or security devices, like motion sensors or
cameras.
Traffic and Safety Bollards
The most common bollard applications are traffic direction and control, in addition to
safety and security. The initial function is achieved from the visual presence of the
bollards, and at some level by impact resistance, although, in these applications visual
deterrence is the primary function. Security and safety applications depend upon higher
degrees of impact resistance. The main difference between both is safety designs are
concerned with stopping accidental breach of the defined space, whereas security is all
about stopping intentional ramming.
Closely spaced lines of bollards can form a traffic filter, separating motor vehicles
from pedestrians and bicycles. Placing the posts with 1 m (3 ft) of clearance between
the two, for example, allows easy passage for humans and human-powered vehicles – such
as wheelchairs or shopping carts – but prevents the passage of cars. Such installations
tend to be seen before zcvjbu parking area entrance to your store, as well as at the
mouths of streets transformed into outdoor malls or ‘walk streets’. In designing bollard
installations for any site, care must be delivered to avoid locating them where they
will become a navigational hazard to authorized vehicles or cyclists.
Some applications for traffic guidance depend on the cooperation of drivers and
pedestrians and never require impact resistance. A type of bollards linked by a chain
presents a visual cue not to cross the boundary, though it may be easy enough for any
pedestrian to travel over or beneath the chain if they choose. Bollards made to direct
traffic are sometimes made to fold, deflect, or break away on impact.
Adding greater collision resistance allows a bollard to enforce traffic restrictions
instead of merely suggesting them. Plain pipe bollards are often placed on the corners
of buildings, or flanking lamp-posts, public phones, fire hydrants, gas pipes as well as
other installations that ought to be protected from accidental contact. A bollard in the
side of a roadway prevents cars from over-running sidewalks and harming pedestrians.
Bell-shaped bollards can in fact redirect a car back onto the roadway when its wheels
hit the bollard’s sloped sides.
They may be employed where U-turns and tight-radius turns are frequent. This type of
usage is extremely common at corners where vehicle drivers often misestimate turns, and
pedestrians are particularly close to the roadbed waiting to cross. In a few cities,
automatically retractable impact-resistant bollards are installed to control the flow of
traffic into an intersection. Internet videos of ‘bollard runners’ graphically
demonstrate the potency of a low post at stopping cars.