A bollard is a vertical post that is mounted alongside roads and park or building boundaries. The main goal of security bollards is to provide security, guide traffic and sometimes serve decorative purposes as well. Let’s have a look at the different types of security bollards.
Why Use Security Bollards? Different Types of Security Bollards
With the increase in vehicles on the road, the rate of collisions is also increasing day by day. Vehicles collide with vehicles, bicycles, motorbikes, buildings, and even pedestrians. Therefore, for the protection and security of vehicles, buildings and people, it is recommended that security bollards should be placed on roadsides, parks and building boundaries, etc.
What are Bollards?
A bollard is a vertical post that is mounted alongside roads and park or building boundaries. They are also placed to guide the traffic to some specific areas or to restrict the traffic from entering some restricted areas for example a construction site. Bollards are basically placed for security and protection purposes. Security bollards come in many different shapes, sizes and styles to enhance their visibility in a specific setting. Security bollards are made of materials that not only serve decorative purposes but are also made strong enough to hold and decrease the impact of a collision. The most common materials used for making bollards are metal, cement, plastic and stone.
Types of Security Bollards
According to the need and requirements, security bollards come in many different types. Each type of security bollard serves a different purpose. Different types of security bollards are listed in the following section.
1. Non-Crash Resistant Bollard
Non-crash-resistant bollards are a type of security bollard that serves decorative and guiding purposes. Visually, they give the look of a hindrance or barrier but they are not strong enough to stop or hold the collision. They are made of soft materials like plastic etc. They can resist light collisions, for example, a bicycle, etc. But they are not resistant to strong forces. They also come with lighting options as they are mostly used for decorative purposes. They only provide a visual barrier to warn or inform the passing vehicles that a particular area is not available for access by everyone.
2. Crash Resistant Security Bollards
As the name implies, this type of security bollard is designed to resist a crash or collision. They are designed with hard and strong materials like metal or steel to resist and hold the collisions. They are designed to hold the collision from a truck or a car coming at specific speeds that are relatively faster than the normal speeds. These security bollards are checked by doing a crash test. They are actually designed to protect and safeguard the military and government buildings. These specific areas are at a greater risk of vehicular terrorist attacks.
3. Retractable Security Bollards
Retractable security bollards are also known as removable security bollards. The bollards which are designed in a way that they can be removed at the time of some need are called retractable security bollards. Both crash-resistant and non-crash-resistant bollards come with retractable options as well. Even in high-security areas, there should always be an option for retractable bollards because of the need for construction, maintenance, or passing of big vehicles.
Retractable bollards come with the option of moving the bollards both manually and automatically. Retractable security bollards are considered very beneficial for many high-security areas as well. They not only provide you hindrance against any prohibited activity but also give you the flexibility to move the bollard from one place to another whenever needed. An example of a retractable bollard is a rising bollard.
4. Rising Bollards
Rising bollards are a type of retractable bollards. They function with hydraulic power. They rise when you want to restrict the entrance of any vehicle. They lower down in the ground when you want to allow some vehicle to pass. They are mostly made of stainless steel so they are at less risk of corrosion.
5. Fixed Bollards
They are the opposite of a removable or retractable security bollard. They are mounted in places where high-level security is required. For example, government buildings, military installations, schools, airports, etc. These types of buildings are more prone to vehicular terrorist attacks. The advantage of placing fixed bollards is that there is no worry to move them. They are also very easy to install. They are actually the most demanded type of security bollards. They are made of hard and strong material to provide a maximum level of security and resistance to collision. Fixed bollards also have a longer life span as compared to other bollard types and they are very durable as well.
6. Stainless Steel Bollards
Stainless steel security bollards not only offer decorative purposes but also offer durability. They also offer great resistance to corrosion due to snow and rain. The maintenance cost of stainless-steel security bollards is also very low. It is a durable material so these bollards last for a longer time. It is best suited to buildings that need durable security and safeguards with a pleasing visual appearance.
Final Thoughts
The main goal of security bollards is to provide security, guide traffic and sometimes serve decorative purposes as well. The above-mentioned types are elaborated in an informative way to help you understand which type of security bollard will best suit your requirements.