Whenever you are going in your car you see many barriers or post while you stop outside a shopping plaza, a grocery store or a hospital. These sturdy, vertical posts are called security bollards. These bollards are a post like structure that is used to mark a boundary of any building. These bollards are designed to keep the building and the customers safe.
History
You may think that bollards are a modern-day concept and product. However, the reality is opposite. You can draw history of bollards back to the 17th and 18th century. At that time there were no such advancements in building materials like today. It is found through studies that old cannon shells were used as bollards at that time.
The bollards developed in the 19th century was therefore very similar to the shape of cannon. People at that time started putting bollards in front of their homes and businesses to prevent from any damage from outside source. The bollard concept from 17th century was first adopted by the residents of Amsterdam in the 1900’s.
Where to Put Security Bollards?
Due to increase in barging of vehicles on public places, the need for security bollards and posts have increased. Builders and architects now focus a lot on the placement of bollards before planning of any building. They are used in a great number of ways in various areas to protect people, vehicles, buildings or any kind of asset. Following are some of the most common places where bollards are placed.
- Traffic Guiding Bollards
This type of bollard is placed to guide the traffic to some specific areas. They are also used to restrict traffic to going into some other area like a one-way street or bike lanes. These bollards help to manage the traffic as well.
- Bollards for Pedestrians
Many buildings and public places use beautiful ornamental bollards to separate the space for pedestrians. There are also lighted bollards that light up at night to show a pathway for pedestrians. They are used in parks as well as on road sides.
- Bollards for Construction Sites
If there is a construction site at the road side, then temporary bollards are placed around the premises to prevent from any hindrance or barging from the traffic. These bollards are made of bright colored plastic to give a clear view to the coming traffic. They are put close to each other to give a better visual to the traffic.
- Bollards for People Protection
These bollards are placed for the protection of people from any kind of accident. For example, if there is a park near a parking area, then bollards are placed around the park to protect people from any mishap. Similarly parks that are beside the sharp road ends are also protected by placing bollards.
- Bollards for Susceptible Building Areas or Items
These bollards are usually built of steel with concrete inside to protect some components or items that are easily susceptible to damage. For example, some historical statue near traffic places or road sides are protected by such bollards to avoid any accident.
- Security Bollards
These bollards are placed to guide traffic or pedestrians. But the main reason for placing security bollards is to lessen the vehicle collision in case of any accident. They are also made of steel and filled inside with concrete to limit the collision as much as possible.
- Bollards for Bicycle Parking
These bollards have a structure of a vertical post and having arms on both sides. This bollard provides the facility to safely but temporarily lock or park your bike with the bollard. These bollards are helpful in traffic management as due to these bollards traffic disturbance by improperly parked bikes can be reduced or avoided.
- Bollards for Protection Inside a Building
These bollards protect against people or customers visiting a store for example. These are used to protect retail shelves in a grocery store. They are also used as precaution sign for consumers not to touch some particular items. They also protect collision of trolleys with different merchandise items. They are usually made of plastic and do not protect much against collision. They are more like warning signs to prevent the collision at all.
- Bollards to Prevent Intimidation
Governments building like banks which are more vulnerable to terrorism activities are protected by placing strong bollards to create hindrance for any kind of terrorist activity.
- Bollards for Bike Lane
These bollards are placed to provide security to bikers or cyclists. They also reduce stress level of drivers as they prevent bikes and cycles to come in to car lane. They also restrict cars to some extent to enter the bike lane.
Bollards in a Nutshell
Bollards are a necessity in today’s world where the ratio of accidents has increased to a great extent. There are various types of bollards available depending upon the use and requirement of the place where they have to be mounted. They have many uses and benefits like they provide a great hindrance to accidents, help manage traffic in a better way and help protect assets from barging etc.
