Bollards Protective Barrier

Industrial Bollards and Column Guards Protect Buildings and Machinery

Bollard Guard

Every year, millions of dollars are spent on repairs for preventable damage caused to machinery and buildings by vehicles such as cars or forklifts. Bollards create physical barriers and visual aids to direct traffic, protect buildings, prevent injuries, and prevent vehicle access to certain areas. Heavy-duty bollards can prevent inattentive drivers from accidentally damaging structures and expensive equipment.

Check with your insurance underwriter to see if your property general liability insurance qualifies for a premium credit if you have bollards protective barrier installed at your location. Also ask your insurance sales representative to present the property layout to the insurance underwriter to identify all locations for bollard installation to check for all eligible insurance reductions.

Types of Bollards

A variety of bollard types are available to protect a variety of equipment. The standard permanent vertical pipe bollard can be seen in a variety of industrial settings. Some units feature wheels for portability when only temporary access blockage is necessary.

Some bollards even serve multiple uses, such as smoking bollards. These units are designed as a cigarette butt receptacle to be placed in front of buildings or in smoking areas to prevent unsightly and environmentally harmful litter from occurring on your property.

Movable Pipe Bollard with Wheels

While many types of bollards are permanent, some can be removed or recessed into the concrete pavement to allow temporary access. In industrial settings, it is common to see spring-loaded bollards, which create a visual and audible warning to fork truck drivers while not damaging the fork truck when it is struck. Folding bollards are manually folded down to allow vehicles to be driven over them.

Applications

Bollards may commonly be found in areas such as sports fields, traffic medians, playgrounds, highway lanes, bicycle lanes, parks, area perimeters, toll booths, storefronts, malls, and fire lanes. A common use is to prevent vehicular access to areas while still allowing foot or bicycle traffic, such as in park bike paths, narrow alleyways, and walking pathways.

In these settings, bollards potentially save lives by preventing vehicle access to an area with heavy pedestrian and bike traffic. The bollards also serve a double function of alerting walkers, skaters, and bicyclists that they are approaching a potentially dangerous area near vehicle traffic. By warning both sets of people as well as providing a physical safety barrier, the risk for accidents is greatly reduced.

Removable Safety Bollard

Bollard Accessories

While bollards are stand-alone items requiring little maintenance, some useful accessories are available to reduce unsightly cracks, chipped paint, or damage from occurring. Bollard covers are polyethylene sleeves which slip over existing bollards to eliminate the need for repainting. Bollard caps are pressed into place on the top of hollow bollards that don’t come with caps. They eliminate the possibility of water accumulating, freezing, and cracking the bollard.