Well, the truth is that almost no one knows what the term bollard refers to. This occurred because bollards are sold by a select few, while only a couple of specialized companies or local municipalities make use of them. If you read the definition below, we guarantee that you will not only recognize a bollard but also its function. While the following benefits of the different types of bollards might seem too familiar to you, this is due to the fact that you have seen them for sure in your day to day routine.
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A bollard represents a short post set up to establish a protective or architectural perimeter. In most cases, when it is used as a visual indicator, a bollard is meant to guide traffic and mark boundaries. Furthermore, bollards have different shapes and sizes in order to boost their visibility in certain settings.
These security bollards are constructed in such manner that they have both decorative elements to complement the landscape and resistance to absorb impact from forces. Considering their function and usage, bollards can be made from various materials, while the most common bollards are being made from metal, stone, cement or plastic.
As mentioned above, there are two primary situations for which a bollard is required: as a decorative element and as a safety item.
When it comes to safety and security, bollards can be installed in areas meant to separate different types of traffic in order to keep pedestrians or cyclists safer. Other usages include protecting loading docks or garages from intruders, bike paths, streetscapes, cemeteries, government buildings, stadiums or golf courses.
In most cases, decorative bollards are used in areas intended only for pedestrians or parks, where they protect the wildlife or flora from damage. No matter the situation, when a bollard is in place, the message is clear: you should be careful where you walk, drive or cross, as it might be a sign of prohibited access.
So, bollards serve different purposes, while the main reason for installing a bollard remains the fact that it acts as a safety tool for both properties and people. let`s take a look at the most common types of bollards and what they are used for in order to gain a thorough understanding about these intriguing forms strategically placed all around us.
Removable bollards, also known as removable barrier posts are great for controlling access in a certain area, such as a private property. Those bollards offer owners flexibility for site entrance, while the majority of people use removable bollards in places where they want to prevent unauthorized parking.
Removable bollards are easy to use and permit users from simply unlocking, lifting or pass over them with little or no effort. Also, those bollards can be stored in other places, being free of the installation areas.
These types of bollards can mainly be seen during road construction projects, but there have been cases in which bollards were used in front of sites of building constructions, too. The scope of a construction bollard is to protect the area and the workers in it from any type of external impact, such as redirecting traffic or preventing it from entering.
These bollards are made of flexible and brightly coloured plastic, while a reflective tape is strategically placed on their surface. The proper placement for construction bollards is close to each other in order to create the illusion of a continual visual edge.
Also, visual cues for both pedestrian and traffic participants, security bollards have a slight difference when compared to construction bollards. Almost all security bollards are made out of steel, filled with concrete and decorated in such a manner that they fit the landscape that they are placed in.
Moreover, the resistance of a security bollard represents a combination between the quality of materials used to construct the bollard and the manner in which it was installed on site. The impact resistance of a bollard is dependent on the engineering required to fixate it to the ground.
Marine bollards are popularly known as mooring bollards, a crucial part of mooring systems. Simply put, it is a bollard designed as a short post meant to anchor boats to it. Depending on its intended usage, its shape and size differs.
They are designed to have a mushroom appearance that is a large diameter top so that ropes can be dropped over them and will not easily come loose. They often include a cross rod for additional security for tying the ropes.
Similar to marine bollards, the bicycle parking bollards offers hitching supports for a safe bike lock-up, usually designed in a post-and-arm shape that allows two bikes to be locked on the same bollard.
The role of a bicycle parking bollard is to prevent obstruction by creating an area specially designed for parking bikes. Also, being made from a strong material they properly support the weight of the two wheeled vehicles, while it can be designed in different shapes and sized depending on the landscape.
A fancier use for a bollard is, as you might have guessed, is for landscape improvement. They offer ambient lighting to properties, alleys, pedestrian areas or parks, while boosting visibility and marking pathways to walk on. Also, landscape bollards are considered to be an eco-friendly lighting source, as there are various options to allow them to recharge through solar energy.
Besides the classification above, we can distinguish three different categories of bollards depending on their impact resistance.
First, flexible bollards are meant to protect the vehicles when they hit it, being made of polyurethane. In other words, these bollards pop back if hit, without causing serious damage to the car. Usually, you can find those bollards in parking zones, but they can also be used as lane delineators for highways or other heavy traffic areas.
Following closely, low impact bollards offer almost no stopping power to an impacting vehicle due to the fact that they feature concrete anchors and bolting to steady them.
On the other hand, high impact bollards are considered to be the best safety bollards as they are usually made from steel pipes filled with cement. These bollards are meant to withstand different crash scenarios and prevent damage to the area they protect.
This being said, there are a multitude of bollards available in the market depending on their type, usage and materials from which they are made. Choosing the correct one for your needs might be tricky, which is why we encourage you to contact your local bollard specialist to offer insight in regards to what it is best to choose or talk to one of our experts, it’s free!
Mooring bollards, such as this one in the Hudson River, were the first type of bollard. The use of the term has since expanded.
A bollard is a sturdy, short, vertical post. The term originally referred to a post on a ship or quay used principally for mooring boats. It now also refers to posts installed to control road traffic and posts designed to prevent automotive vehicles from colliding or crashing into pedestrians and structures.
Etymology
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The term is probably related to bole, meaning a tree trunk.[1][2][3] The earliest citation given by the Oxford English Dictionary (referring to a maritime bollard) dates from 1844,[1] although a reference in the Caledonian Mercury in 1817 describes bollards as huge posts.[4]
History
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East India House, Leadenhall Street, London: an engraving of 1766. Six bollards stand in front of the building. The Arch of Septimius Severus in Rome, painted by Canaletto in 1742. Five bollards stand beyond the arch, apparently placed to protect it from vehicle damage.Wooden posts were used for basic traffic management from at least the beginning of the 18th century. An early well-documented case is that of the "two oak-posts" set up next to the medieval Eleanor cross at Waltham Cross, Hertfordshire, in 1721, at the expense of the Society of Antiquaries of London, "to secure Waltham Cross from injury by Carriages".[5]
Types
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Maritime
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Merwede-Canal, Utrecht, Netherlands features bollards made from cannons.In the maritime contexts in which the term originates, a bollard is either a wooden or iron post found as a deck-fitting on a ship or boat, and used to secure ropes for towing, mooring and other purposes; or its counterpart on land, a short wooden, iron, or stone post on a quayside to which craft can be moored. The Sailor's Word-Book of 1867 defines a bollard in a more specific context as "a thick piece of wood on the head of a whale-boat, round which the harpooner gives the line a turn, in order to veer it steadily, and check the animal's velocity".[1][6] Bollards on ships, when arranged in pairs, may also be referred to as "bitts".[7][8]
Road traffic
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Roadside bollards
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A London street bollard in The CityBollards can be used either to control traffic intake size by limiting movements, or to control traffic speed by narrowing the available space. Israel's Transportation Research Institute found that putting bollards at highway exits to control traffic also reduced accidents.[9]
Permanent bollards can be used for traffic-control or guarding against vehicle-ramming attacks.[10] They may be mounted near enough to each other that they block ordinary cars/trucks, for instance, but spaced widely enough to permit special-purpose vehicles, bicycles, and pedestrians to pass through. Bollards may also be used to enclose car-free zones. Bollards and other street furniture can also be used to control overspill parking onto sidewalks and verges.[11]
Bollards can be temporary and portable, such as this traffic control bollard separating the road from the worksite.Traffic-island bollards
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1980s traffic bollard in Prague, CzechiaTraffic bollards are used to highlight traffic islands. They are primarily used at intersections within the splitter islands (a raised or painted area on the approach of a roundabout used to separate entering from exiting traffic, deflect and slow entering traffic, and provide a stopping place for pedestrians crossing the road in two stages).[12]
Internally illuminated traffic bollards direct vehicles to the appropriate side of an island in the United Kingdom.Illuminated bollards are also used to supplement street signs and street lighting to provide a visual cue to approaching drivers that an obstacle exists ahead during hours of darkness and during periods of low visibility:[13][14]
Internally illuminated traffic bollards have been in existence throughout the United Kingdom and Ireland since the 1930s, although the term "bollard" only seems to have been in common use since the late 1940s.[1] An illuminated bollard has a recessed base light unit in the foundation to illuminate the traffic bollard from all angles.[15] The main components are housed below the road or pedestrian surface (typically a concrete surface). Therefore, if a vehicle strikes the traffic bollard, the units below the surface are not damaged. In addition, most new modern traffic bollards installed along UK roadways today are made of materials that make them completely collapsible. When struck by a vehicle at low or high speed, the traffic bollard shell reverts to its original position with minimal to no damage to the unit.[16]
Reflective bollards may also be used; they need no power or maintenance, and can be built to recover to their normal position after being struck.[17]
Bell
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A bell bollard is especially useful to deflect heavy vehicles.A bell bollard is a style of bollard designed to deflect vehicle tires. The wheel mounts the lower part of the bollard and is deflected by its increasing slope. Such bollards are effective against heavy goods vehicles that may damage or destroy conventional bollards or other types of street furniture.[citation needed]
Retractable
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Manually retractable bollards (lowered by a key mechanism) are found useful in some cases because they require less infrastructure.[18]
The term "robotic bollards" has been applied to traffic barricades capable of moving themselves into position on a roadway.[19]
Self-righting or self-recovering bollards can take a nudge from a vehicle and return to the upright position without causing damage to the bollard or vehicle. They are popular in car park buildings and other areas of high vehicle usage.[citation needed]
Flexible
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Flexible bollards are bollards designed to bend when struck by vehicles. They are typically made from synthetic plastic or rubber that is stiff on its own, but pliable under the weight of a car or truck. When struck, flexible bollards give way to some extent, reducing damage to vehicles and surrounding surfaces, and return to their original, upright position. Some flexible bollards do not provide physical protection from vehicles; rather they offer clear visual guidance for drivers. Other flexible bollards have been designed to provide physical protection as well as reduced damage by incorporating strong elastic materials. These can be all plastic or plastic/steel hybrids but combine varying degrees of stopping power and flexibility.[20]
Protective
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Security bollard in front of a shop doorway, placed to deter ram-raiders Concrete planters provide protection similar to that of bollards. Washington, DCBollards are used by government agencies and private businesses to protect buildings, public spaces, and the people in them from car ramming attacks.[21]
These bollards protect utilities, electronics, machinery, buildings, or pedestrians from accidental or intentional collisions with vehicles. As collisions also cause damage to vehicles, operators, or the bollards themselves, 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.[22]
Bollards are widely used to contribute to safety and security. The American Bar Association (ABA) states that bollards are used to contribute to homeland security.[23] The American National Institute of Building Sciences site—the Whole Building 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.[24]
There are two main kinds of security-related bollard:
According to the National Institute of Building Sciences, non-crash-resistant bollards are "perceived impediments to access" and address the actions of two groups:
High security bollards are impact-tested in accordance with one or more of three major crash test ratings for vehicle barriers. These are PAS 68 (UK),[27] IWA-14 (International) and ASTM (US).[28][29]
Bollard sleeves in various alloys or finishes are designed to cover security bollards to enhance their visual attractiveness.[citation needed]
U-shaped bollards are typically used for the protection of equipment and are common in areas that need coverage over a wider area than of a normal bollard, such as fuel stations and bike lanes.[citation needed]
Parking bollards
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Bollards have become common use for reserving parking spots from unauthorized vehicles. Parking bollards are typically situated in the centre of a parking bay as a physical obstruction. They then fold either manually or automatically to admit authorized users. These bollards are often used in smaller parking lots such as visitor parking or corporate parking lots, as an alternative to boom gates.
Other applications
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The National Clearinghouse for Educational Facilities (NCEF), managed by the National Institute of Building Sciences (NIBS), cited three dozen applications of bollards.[30][31]
US fire regulations
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According to the International Fire Code (IFC-2009) and the American National Fire Protection Association Fire Code 1 (NFPA-1) all new buildings or renovated buildings must have fire access roadways to accommodate fire apparatus and crews and other first responders. Thus the choice of bollard styles must apply to the NFPA's Code 1710. Bollards are now designed in terms of how long it takes to remove or collapse them to allow first responders entry to the access roadway.[32][33]
Artwork
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Figurative bollard sculptures in Geelong, Victoria Ex libris bollard outside Cambridge University Library, by Harry GrayIn Geelong, Victoria, Australia, decorative bollards, sculpted and painted by Jan Mitchell, are placed around the city to enhance the landscape as a form of outdoor public sculpture. Usually they are made of timber, minimally modified from the traditionally cylindrical, wooden, maritime bollard shape, but brightly painted to resemble human figures. Such figures – which may be historical or contemporary, particular or generic – are sited singly or in clusters along the waterfront and in other areas where people gather. Decorative bollards have become a well-known feature of the city of Geelong and reflect its history as a major Australian port.[34]
In Antwerp, Belgium, artist Eddy Gabriel transformed a bollard to look like a toadstool in 1993. This example was followed by other artists, turning the quayside of the river Scheldt into a street art gallery.[35]
In Norwich, England, a set of 21 bollards was installed in 2008 in the Lanes area north of City Hall, designed by artist Oliver Creed and commissioned by the City Council as part of a regeneration programme.[36] They are coloured "madder red", in reference to the red dye extracted from the madder plant and used for dying cloth, one of the city's major industries during the 16th century; and they bear bronze finials also alluding to local history. 10 of these depict the madder plant, while the other 11 have unique designs, usually relevant to the specific location in which the bollard is placed, including a scene of sheep-shearing, a Green Man, a swan's head in Swan Lane, and so on.[37]
On the forecourt of Cambridge University Library, England, a line of 14 bronze bollards made to resemble piles of books was installed in 2009. This work, Ex Libris, was created by sculptor Harry Gray. The ten outer bollards are static, but the "books" making up the four central bollards can be swivelled, so that the lettering on their spines aligns to form the Latin phrase Ex Libris ("from/out of the books"), commonly used on bookplates.[38][39][40]
Gallery
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See also
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References
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Further reading
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