Bollards are short vertical posts that are used to create protective barriers and delineate spaces for vehicles and pedestrians. Strategically placed bollards can greatly enhance road and people safety in a variety of settings, from busy urban areas to remote country roads. Here are some of the key ways that thoughtfully installed bollards can improve safety:
Prevent Vehicle Access
One of the main functions of bollards is to restrict vehicle access to certain areas, such as sidewalks, bike lanes, and pedestrian zones. Rigid, sturdy bollards that are properly anchored make it very difficult for vehicles to bypass the barrier and enter restricted areas. This helps protect pedestrians and cyclists from being hit by encroaching vehicles. Bollards create a clear visual division between vehicle zones and pedestrian zones.
Safety in Parking Areas
Bollards also provide important safety benefits for parking areas. In parking garages, bollards placed at the end of parking stalls help absorb impact from vehicles, protecting both columns and pedestrians walking behind parked cars. Bollards also prevent vehicles from driving the wrong way down parking lanes. In parallel parking situations along busy streets, bollards protect buildings, street signs, benches, and other objects on sidewalks from being hit by drivers pulling in or out of parking spaces. Sturdy bollards made from reinforced steel or concrete withstand the regular bumps and scrapes from parking maneuvers while maintaining their integrity. Thoughtful parking bollard placement delineates spaces while allowing doors to open, further optimizing safety and functionality. Even in parking scenarios, strategically installed bollards pay dividends in damage prevention and improved pedestrian safety.
Entry
Bollards also play an important role in security, enabling access control at sensitive facilities. Retractable or removable bollards can allow authorized vehicle entry at checkpoints while denying entry to unauthorized vehicles. Bollards form an integral part of comprehensive perimeter security plans for data centers, government buildings, utilities, airports, private residences, and more. Security bollards are built to withstand extreme impact while stopping a range of vehicle types. Bollards can be augmented with hydraulic barriers, guard booths, gates, and tire shredders as part of a layered security strategy. With terrorism and erratic behaviors on the rise globally, sturdy bollards provide a critical layer of protection for people and assets against vehicle attacks. Bollards’ strength and customizability make them a key component of robust security plans aiming to balance access with safety.
Reduce Speeding
Bollards placed at intervals along a roadway act as physical impediments that force drivers to slow down. Having to carefully maneuver around bollards prevents motorists from sustaining high speeds, which improves safety. Curving alignments of bollards can work better than straight lines for slowing speeds. The spacing between bollards can be tailored to control speeds as desired on different sections of road.
Guide Traffic Flow
Strategically placing bollards allows planners to physically guide the flow of traffic in the desired direction. Bollards can create chicanes that alternate vehicle movement from one side of a road to another. This helps reduce speed while also segregating opposing traffic flows. Bollards can be used to separate turn lanes from straight lanes and prevent illegal turns. Thoughtful bollard placement improves traffic flow while enhancing safety.
Protect Infrastructure
Bollards placed around critical infrastructure, such as utility poles, transit shelters, bridge supports, and road signs help shield these assets from accidental damage from vehicles. Bollards absorb the impact in a crash scenario, which protects both drivers and the infrastructure. This improves safety and reduces costs from repairs.
Increase Visibility
Bollards with reflective strips or paint enhance visibility along roadways at night. Bollards that are lit internally with LEDs provide even greater visibility for drivers along curving roads or near intersections. Improved visibility allows motorists to see and react to bollards, or a fence and other potential obstructions along the roadway.
Versatile, Customizable Solution
An advantage of bollards is that they offer versatile, customizable solutions that can be tailored to meet specific safety needs in diverse settings. Bollards come in different heights, widths, materials, colors, and designs. Temporary or permanent bollards can be installed. Removable bollards allow access when needed for authorized vehicles. Traffic engineers analyze particular road risks and layouts to determine optimal bollard selection and placement.
Effective When Used Thoughtfully
Bollards clearly provide important safety benefits. However, careful analysis and planning are vital for bollards to be effective. Engineer input, traffic studies, and testing different arrangements are needed to get bollard placement and design right. Proper bollard height, size, spacing, delineation, and siting require expertise. Used thoughtlessly, bollards can create safety issues and traffic problems. But when installed judiciously, bollards are a valuable tool for enhancing road and people safety through both physical protection and traffic flow control.
Armco Direct:
For durable bollards engineered for safety, Armco Direct is an industry leader. They manufacture impact-resistant bollards that provide exceptional protection. All their posts are rigorously crash-tested to meet safety standards. Their bollards come in a wide range of styles, colors, sizes, and materials to suit all types of applications. Safety reflective strips and customized logos can be added to enhance visibility and branding. Armco Direct’s bollards are engineered with innovative breakaway bases to prevent vehicle under-rides. For bollards that deliver protection plus aesthetics, Armco Direct offers an unbeatable selection to enhance road and people safety. Their bollards are a reliable, attractive choice for everything from high-security installations to architectural accent pieces. For quality bollards tailored to your safety needs, find out how Armco direct can improve road safety today.
Bollards have become an indispensable tool for traffic engineers and urban planners seeking to improve road and pedestrian safety. When thoughtfully installed with careful consideration of placement, design, delineation, and spacing, bollards can provide protection, guide traffic, slow speeds, and enhance visibility. While misuse of bollards can potentially create new hazards, proper analysis of risks, traffic patterns, and infrastructure needs allows bollards to be customized into an effective safety solution. With expertise and care, bollards’ versatility, durability and flexibility make them a critical component of road design enhancements that prevent collisions, separate vehicles and people, and ultimately save lives. Companies like Armco Direct provide the well-engineered, aesthetically appealing bollards that allow communities to boost safety across diverse settings.
