Protective Bollards
Bollards
are used throughout heavy industry and in commercial buildings management to protect assets. They usually consist of a simple steel post either anchored to concrete, cored into a hard surface, buried in the ground or secured on a
Self-Locking Taper
or
Impact Recovery System
protecting the surrounding foundations from damage when a bollard is impacted.
These
Bollards
protect utilities, electronics, machinery, buildings, or pedestrians from accidental collisions by vehicles, including passenger vehicles, transport trucking, and fork lifts. As collisions can cause damage to vehicles, operators, or the
bollards them selves, new
Bollards
have been developed that absorb some of the impact energy, lessening the violence of the collision. Some are made of forgiving plastics while others are made of steel but fitted with an elastomer to absorb the impact energy.
Bollards
are widely used to contribute to safety and security. The American Bar Association (ABC) state that
bollards
are used to contribute to homeland security. The (NIBS's) site -the Whole buildings design Guide (WBDG)- recommends in its Design Guidance that open spaces surrounding and contiguous to buildings be included as integral parts of a security design.
There are two main kinds of
Security Bollards:
Crash and attack-resistant bollards
, a hardened barrier systems used to protect military, government and other buildings or compounds of higher security levels. They are often used by retailers to prevent "smash and grab" burglaries.
Large concrete planters
are a decorative alternative to
traditional bollards
. According to the National Institute of Building Sciences,
non crash-resistant bollards
are "perceived impediments to access" and address the actions of two groups.
Rising Bollards
are increasingly common around the world to hinder vehicle-based terrorist actions from achieving close proximity to buildings, and are also used to prevent ram-raiding such as the 2007 Glasgow International Airport Attack. They are also useful in mixed-use public spaces, which support both pedestrian use and emergency or service vehicle use.