Safety bollards are the vertical poles that you see lined up on parking places, walkways, pathways, and more. They are typically 1 to 1.2 metres in height and are used to border different sections of an area, block unwanted traffic, and restrict access to some places. Normally, each bollard is 1 to 1.5 metres apart.

You’ve probably seen a lot of safety bollards especially in public areas but didn’t pay much attention. Understandably so, safety bollards aren’t the most attractive pieces of safety equipment. But for engineers and architects, safety bollards are incredibly important and must be well integrated into plans and designs of buildings and infrastructure, to increase their aesthetic value, security, and safety.

If you’re looking to use safety bollards for your residential, commercial or industrial space, you need to know their different types and how you can make the most of their advantages.

3 main types of bollards

Safety bollards are generally used to redirect traffic to a more appropriate route or ultimately block incoming or outgoing traffic. However, some people use bollards for different other purposes. While others would prefer to have permanent posts in a specific location, some might want to have more flexible options. Know which of the 3 types of safety bollards best suits your needs:

Permanent bollards

This particular bollard, as the name suggests, are there to stay for good. Use permanent bollards if you want to have barriers blocking any unwanted access to a specific location on your property or if you want to set permanent gaps among the things that you expect to see on your property. These bollards are also typically seen in places with high-speed moving vehicles or accident-prone areas. These are known to protect people and property from grave accidents.

Permanent bollards can be found on parking spaces, airports, malls, schools, and sidewalks.

Removable bollards

Removable bollards are the temporary versions of permanent bollards. If you only need to barricade a particular area for a specific duration of time, whether long or short, you may want to opt for removable bollards. These can oftentimes be seen on road accidents, they are used to redirect traffic and prevent unwanted attention to the accident itself. Removable bollards are also sturdy and can be locked in place. In the same manner, to take off the removable bollard, you need to be able to unlock it.

Other than road accidents, removable bollards can also be seen on road constructions, construction sites, and on-road events like festivals or concerts.

Collapsible bollards

The last and definitely not the least type of bollard is the collapsible bollard. This type of bollard provides the perfect middle ground for permanent bollards and the removable bollards. This is used in places that require protection and limited access to a specific area. You’ll often see this type of bollard on entrances to some projects that can only be accessed in a limited window of time. The advantage of using a collapsible bollard instead of a removable one is that you don’t have to repeatedly lock and unlock a removable bollard on the same place daily or regularly. On times that the area can be accessed, you can just collapse or retract the bollard underground, and when it’s time to disallow access, just lift up the bollard once again. This takes away the hassle from removable bollards while maintaining the safety that permanent bollards provide.

Edward Bertrand