Ideal Applications for Traffic Bollards: Warehouses and Industrial

This post is the last of a five part article dealing with types of bollards and their ideal uses.  This post will discuss bollard use in industrial manufacturing plants as well as warehouses.

Pedestrian Protection

No matter the work setting, anywhere that moving vehicles have the potential to injure workers and guests alike, adequate protection is required.  Simple safety training of fork lift operators, delivery truck drivers, and plant personnel is often not enough to ensure pedestrian safety.  Accidents with heavy vehicles are often catastrophic and require additional safeguarding to protect people from injury.  A line of bollard or bollard fencing in high traffic area is key.  It is also especially important to protect operators and workers in areas where they may not be able to see oncoming traffic, such as when performing work related tasks.  Break areas are another important area to consider as workers are often inattentive while on break.

Many businesses choose to use surface mounted steel plate bollards in these applications, as the speeds of vehicles is often low and this is adequate to stop incidental contact with forbidden areas.  Cored or embedded bollards can leave a factory owner with a Swiss cheese plant floor, especially given the flexibility required of the modern factory.  But because welded plate surface mounted bollards can quickly come loose and fall into disrepair, rebounding type bollards are recommended for their ability to absorb impact and avoid damage and lost truck loads.  These can also be used to assist in proper positioning, as it is acceptable to use them as a positive stop without a jarring impact of a traditional bollard.

Loading Docks and Doors

It’s no secret that warehouse loading dock areas take a beating.  Delivery trucks are very large and very heavy, and maneuvering them can be difficult even for the most experienced driver.  In order to protect building walls, loading ramps, and high bay doors, savvy warehouse managers install strong bollards to protect their facilities from damage due to repeated low speed impacts from heavy vehicles.

Related to this is the interior plant doorway made for vehicle traffic.  An inattentive driver can strike the interior walls causing a potentially dangerous situation, especially for a cinder block wall.  Bollards strategically placed in the doorway just inside the wall opening can prevent this sort of damage and save the plant from costly repairs.

Pallet Racks

One of the most common workplace fines issued by the Occupations Health and Safety Administration (OSHA) is for damaged pallet racks.  Pallet racks are subject to damage because of the large frequency of use by forklifts loading and unloading product.  The slightest impact can damage structural uprights and compromise the load integrity of the rack systems.  There are many devices on the market to protect pallet rack uprights such as cushions and guards, but the most effective is arguable a well-placed bollard.   Corners are an especially important area to protect as forklift can clip the end of the rack cutting a turn.  These tend to be lighter bollards in the 3” class as speeds tend to be low.

Equipment and Automation

Industrial equipment and automation can be quite expensive, not to mention critical to plant operations and business revenue.  It is imperative that such equipment is protected from vehicle traffic to eliminate the possibility of completely avoidable downtime.  Safety fencing is often used to protect personnel from entering dangerous equipment operations areas, but bollards or bollard fencing can serve a dual purpose of prohibiting access from both workers and vehicular traffic.  It is not uncommon to see expensive automation equipment surrounded by a line of bollards with W-rail attached along plant aisle ways.  At other times, simple bollard protection to keep vehicles away from delicate personnel safety fencing may be adequate.

Conclusion

In these days of hyper competitive business environments, the costs from unnecessary interruption to operations from vehicle accidents are intolerable.  Further, the safety of employees is a major goal of most companies.  When viewed from that perspective, the installation of protective bollards throughout industrial operations is imperative and has become commonplace.  Business owners and operations managers should carefully consider areas of vehicle traffic, and especially areas that can be prone to damage or injury.

This post concludes our look at ideal bollard applications.  Although not all inclusive of the many uses of traffic bollard, we have performed a comprehensive look at the most common installations.

Ideal Applications for Traffic Bollards: Drive-Thrus

This post is part four of a five part article dealing with types of bollards and their ideal uses.  Today I’ll discuss various drive-thru applications where bollards are often found protecting equipment and personnel.

Banks and ATMs

Perhaps the most obvious use for protective bollards is at the traditional bank drive through teller.  These areas have expensive equipment and are usually narrow lanes, requiring protection from drivers who might struggle to get close enough to the machine.  More recently, all banks have installed drive through automated teller machines (ATM) with similar requirements for protection.  These machines are sometimes stand-alone within a parking lot, and because of the large amount of cash held inside, need to be protected from “crash and grab” robberies where a criminal might ram the machine in order to dislodge it and potential haul away the entire machine.  Strong bollards are key in these instances.

Drive-Thru Restaurants

Fast food restaurants with drive up windows must protect several areas.  First is the ordering speaker and menu board.  Damage to either can temporarily close an important source of revenue if the restaurant cannot take drive through orders.  Second is the building and teller window.  Often a turn is needed by a driver to approach the restaurant window to both pay and receive food.  Because the driver must reach out the window for these tasks, he usually attempts to be as close to the building as possible, increase the risk of damage.  Bollards play an important role in protecting both the physical building and the teller window from accidental impact.  These are often large (6” diameter and relatively tall) steel bollards.

Outside Eating Areas

Restaurant owners that chose to maintain outdoor eating areas need to consider the protection provided for their patrons against an errant vehicle.  This is especially critical in areas adjacent to roadways, but is also important when near parking areas.  Simple wrought iron fencing is not enough to prevent potentially life threatening injuries should a drive lose control of his vehicle.  Often due to aesthetic considerations, large concrete planters are chosen to provide protection, but architectural bollards can also be used.  In either case, the protection should be professionally engineered to provide adequate protections from potential risks.

Guard Shacks and Payment Shacks

Common to public parking lots and garages is an entrance and exit guard shack, usually manned, designed to house a single teller.  Because this is usually the only access point for the secured area, it must be protected from both accidental and intentional ramming.  Strong bollards are used throughout these areas to protect both the occupant and adjacent areas where automatic payment machines might be located.  In the case of a post-tensioned concrete structure, surface mounted bollards may be required to avoid damage to structural concrete.  In this case, rebounding bollards may be the best choice as they can provide more strength that a simple steel plate surface mounted bollard.

Automatic Car Washes

The automatic car wash is a special sort of drive through area with delicate equipment that needs to be protected at all cost.  A car wash with damaged equipment often makes no money while waiting for repairs.  Modern car wash facilities have automated drive up teller machines that need bollard protection.  The entrance and exit of the car wash itself also needs to be protected as drivers attempt to align their vehicles to the tracks and exit the wash.  Speeds are generally expected to be slow in these areas, so often surface mounted bollards can be adequate.  Relying on plastic warning cones, however, is not recommended.

Conclusion

Adequate protection for employees, customers, and expensive equipment is of critical importance for businesses that operate drive through areas.  Failure to provide adequate protection can lead to lost revenue and risk injury to people.  In such cases, bollards are an indispensable safety device.

In the next and last installment of this article, we’ll look at a completely new application for bollards, that being in the industrial setting where forklift protection is an important consideration.

Retail Store Safety - Crash Prevention

Retail Store Safety - Crash Prevention

Ideal Applications for Traffic Bollards: Parking Lots

This post is part three of a five part article dealing with types of bollards and their ideal uses.  So far I've discussed typical types of bollards, and ideal applications in traffic denial.  Today I’ll discuss typical parking lot bollards, which also includes traffic denial but is more specific to the parking lot itself.

Introduction

There are many assets within a parking lot that need to be protected from the errant driver.  Though parking lot speeds are assumed to be lower than other applications, driver mistakes such as driving forward instead of reverse (or vice versa), contribute to accidental impacts.  The lack of curbing or faded lane striping also contribute to drivers short cutting corners or avoiding driving lanes altogether.   This presents the need to protect certain areas from vehicles, usually cars and light trucks.

Utility Protection

Often shopping centers or other locations require dedicated fire hydrant, gas meters, electrical panels, or other utilities that are located in or near the parking lot.  For obvious reasons, these utilities need to be protected, usually on all sides, from potential accidental impact.  In the gas of natural gas lines, it is of special importance that the area is well protected by strong bollards because of the potential of fire or explosion from impact.

Overhead Signs

Many businesses have overhead signs mounted to large posts near the street.  These posts as well need to be protected from errant vehicles that could potential cause damage significant enough to topple the structure.  Embedded bollards are used when there is danger of catastrophic damage.  However, less expensive surface mounted or rebounding bollards are also used when the danger is less severe and the purpose is to avoid occasion damage.  This is also done at times with large light posts or electronic information signage.

Corners / Entrance Driveways

Malls, grocery stores, and convenience stores are move a great deal of product, and need delivery trucks to frequently re-store their wares.  These trucks need to make wide turns an often accidentally cut corners which can lead to damage to buildings, landscaping, and driveway surfacing.  Lack of curbing within parking lots also contributes to the propensity for drivers to cut lane corners, leading to more potential damage.  Bollards can be used at these corners to prevent these short cutting drivers from damaging important assets.  These can be embedded in the landscaping areas or on the driving surface at the edge of a turn.

Parking Signs

A unique but common application of the bollard is as a protective device for sign posts.  The Americans with Disabilities Act mandates handicap parking spaces and appropriate signage.  Many companies also create preferred parking spaces, such as “employee of the month”, which need signage to identify the space.  However signs in the middle of a parking lot can take many bumps which eventually bend and break the sign.  A bollard can be used in lieu of or in conjunction with a wheel stop to prevent vehicles from impacting the sign post.  The bollard does this through increased conspicuity and a psychological desire not to impact a more foreboding object by the driver.

Recharging Stations

Becoming more popular is the addition of electric vehicle recharging stations which involves especially expensive equipment that must be protected from damage.  This is a similar application to an air fill station that might be found in a gas station.  A couple well placed bollards in front of the equipment is a smart investment.

Access Prevention

A common use of bollards is to prevent access by vehicle to areas intended only for pedestrians.  This could be a small access alley or a restaurant eating location just off the parking lot.  Whenever pedestrian safety is at risk, it is important to adequately protect them from potential run-away vehicles.  A simple decorative gate is simply not enough.  When aesthetics are especially important, architectural bollards are often used, or in lieu of those, large concrete planters can serve the purpose of a bollard if specifically designed for that purpose.

Ice Shacks / Small Out Buildings

It’s not uncommon to find small out building in a strip-mall.  These are often “ice shacks” or small drive-thru building such as an ATM, mailbox, or DVD rental.  Because these areas are in the middle of travel areas of a parking lot, protection around them is desirable and usually occurs in the form of a “picket fence” of bollards completely surrounding the building.

Parking Garages / Public Parking Lots

Public parking garages nearly always have toll shacks or other revenue equipment that require protection from errant vehicles.  Should the station be manned, it is especially important to use strong protective bollards to guard the area.  One case that is unique, however, is the addition of bollards in post-tensioned concrete structures.  The tendons which keep the concrete in compression are extremely important and cannot be damaged by drilling or coring into the structure.  When adding any of the numerous bollards found in a typical parking structure, care must be taken not to damage the tendons.  As well, the bollard should be designed with a shear point either in the anchors used or in the bollard itself, such that upon impact, the structural concrete is not damaged, which could lead to a catastrophic failure of the building.  For this reason, surface mounted bollards are more often used in post-tensioned concrete applications.

Failed Structural Concrete Building

Conclusion

Bollards are used throughout parking lots for numerous reasons.  It’s not uncommon for new parking lot construction to contain scores of bollards and bollards signs throughout various areas.  Proper design and placement of bollard decrease damage to assets and protect pedestrians.

In the next two parts of this article, we’ll look at the following to areas of interest:

Drive-Thru Lanes

Factories and Warehouses

Ideal Applications for Traffic Bollards: Traffic Denial

This post is part two of a five part article dealing with types of bollards and their ideal uses.  Last post discussed four main types of bollards:  embedded, surface-mount, rebounding, and retractable/removable.  In this post and the next three I’ll discuss ideal uses as follows:

1. Traffic Denial (today)
2. Parking Lot Protection
3. Drive-Thru Lanes
4. Factories and Warehouses

Traffic Denial

Although all bollards are used for some sort of traffic denial, this category covers uses that purposely deny access for safety or damage reasons, and are not covered by a more specific use that is described in another area of concern.  In other words, these are general uses.

Security Bollards

This is the grand-daddy application for the traffic denial bollard.  Often K-rated (meaning tested to certain government standards), these bollards are used to absolutely deny access to a building.  This has seen large increase in popularity since the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001.  Government buildings and other high value targets use engineered bollard systems to prevent high speed, high mass vehicles from causing mass harm initiated by ramming through building fronts.

Building Protection

Bollards are often used to protect a building or structure for damage.  Building corners are a typical place bollards are found, especially when a tight turn by a vehicle can actually impact the building.  Self-Storage facilities often use a large number of bollards to protect buildings from vehicles, and often, trailers.

Building Columns

Closely related are sets of bollards placed around a building or roof column to prevent vehicular impact, which could lead to catastrophic damage should a column fall.  These bollards are often embedded or rebounding type because of the importance of protecting the column.

Store Fronts

Many store owners worried about “crash and grab” robberies, or even just worried about driver mistakes, will line the front of a store with bollards to prevent access.  This application has the added benefit of protecting patrons while they walk in and out of the facility.  The tighter the picket, the more protection offers as a vehicle is likely to impact multiple bollards at once.

Gates

Many security gates and use bollards to protect keypad access panels as well expensive mechanical equipment that operates the gates.  Keypad panels must be closely approached by a driver to enter access codes, and therefore need to be protected from driver mistakes.  Often far ends of a gate system will be protected by bollards to prevent damage to motorized equipment, critical pivots, and weak points that might allow a vehicle to ram a gate.  Sometimes these will be simple surface mounted bollards if the security needed is not great.  A large bollard is usually enough to keep a driver from approaching a sub-division access panel too closely.   An unattended storage facility might need a sturdier bollard to prevent night time theft by ramming a gate.

Pedestrian / Bike Paths

This is an application of traffic denial where the path is not intended for vehicles so bollards are used to block off the entrance or exit of the path.  Pedestrians and bicyclists can pass between a set of bollards, however a car or truck cannot.  These will often be simple embedded wooden bollards, but on a busier street might be a steel bollard.

Gas Pump Protection

This is such a common sight, that you probably don’t even notice the bollards, but virtually every modern gas station protects its pumps from vehicles through the use of bollards or very large cements islands (a form of bollard).  These are often embedded into the concrete, for obvious reasons, as accidents with the highly flammable gasoline delivery device would make for a bad day.

Propane Storage

Many convenience and home improvement stores offer propane bottle exchange programs.  For safety reasons, the propane bottles are stored outside of the store and usually have a picket fence of bollards protecting them.   Again, flammable, possibly explosive devices need to be protected.  I’ve seen both surface mount and embedded steel bollards protecting these areas.  I wouldn’t advise surface mount bollards unless they were strong rebounding bollards, as the safety hazard here can be high.  Local conditions of course would dictate the potential hazards by passing traffic.

Gas Utilities

Utility companies often have meters and valve stacks located near the roadway.  Because natural gas is so flammable, it is important that the area is adequately protected with bollards should there be a reasonable chance of vehicle impact.  These will often be surrounded by a set of four or more bollards, usually steel and embedded deep in the ground.

Conclusion

Traffic denial is the main purpose of a safety bollard.   The applications listed here are some of the more popular uses that one will see in their daily travels.  In the next part of this article, I’ll discuss example specific to parking lots.  Some of those applications overlap with general traffic denial, but are specific to parking lots only.

Bollard Types and Ideal Applications

This post will be part of a five part article which describes traffic bollards types and their typical uses.  In this post, I’ll discuss bollard types and introduce the four main uses for traffic bollards.

Traffic bollards come in four main types:

1. Embedded Bollards
2. Surface Mounted Bollards
3. Rebounding Bollards
4. Retractable / Removable Bollards

Each type is specifically designed for its purpose and has its own benefits and limitations.  Within those groups, there are sub-groups which I will discuss as well.  Also, bollards that fit in those categories can also fall into other sub-categories less dependent on function and more on aesthetics.  Architectural Bollards might be any of the above, but are also designed to also include pleasant or unique shapes.  A Lighted Bollard is simply a bollard with a light source built in either to add conspicuity to the bollard or to light the surrounding area.

Embedded Bollards

 

Embedded Bollards are simply bollards which are embedded deep into the ground.  This is usually for added

strength and security.  Embedded bollards can be made out of any common bollard material, be it steel, concrete or even wood, however the bollard will only be as strong as the foundation in which it is buried.

A steel post filled with concrete and buried very deep within a reinforced concrete foundation will be strong indeed.  On the contrary, a wooden post buried in soft sand or dirt will not provide as much protection.

Costs for this type of bollard can be significant when coring out existing concrete or asphalt surfaces.   It also potentially weakens the foundation, and therefore may not even be appropriate in an application such as a structural concrete parking deck.  On the other hand, when placing a bollard in an unpaved area, this is perhaps the least expensive and simplest approach.

Surface Mounted Bollards

This type of bollard uses some sort of anchor system, usually mechanical, to mount the bollard to the surface.  Although this is an inexpensive method of installation, it also is not a very secure method.  Upon impact, the anchors are often the weakest link and quickly give way, leaving a tilted bollard and damaged foundation.  However, when the purpose of the bollard is more to provide a mere presence or psychological barrier, this type of installation is most cost effective.  It also may be necessary to use shear bolts in a post-tensioned concrete structure in order to prevent impact to the bollard to potentially compromise the building.

The next type of bollard, the rebounding bollard, is often surface mounted, but overcomes the strength and damage issues associated with standard surface mounted bollards.

Rebounding Bollards

A relative newcomer to the bollard field, rebounding bollards use energy absorption technology to provide

the strength of some embedded bollards, with the low installation costs and flexibility of surface mounted bollards.  When a rebounding bollard is impacted, it is allowed to tilt as some mechanism, be it an elastomer or spring system, more slowly absorbs and dissipates the energy of the vehicle.  The bollard then ideally returns to its original position undamaged and fully functional.  Some barriers use advanced polymers which do not yield like metal or concrete might under extreme load.

A further advantage of this type of system is that damage to vehicles, passengers and loads is reduced due to the more gradual absorption of impact energy.  Imagine crashing a vehicle into a large concrete bollard.  Since there is almost no give, it is much like hitting the proverbial brick wall; all energy is immediately felt by the vehicle and its passengers.  With a flexible bollard system, that energy might be dispersed over several hundred milliseconds.  While that doesn't sound like much, it makes a great deal of difference to the peak forces felt.

Some bollards in this type are actually not intended to provide traffic denial capabilities at all.  As such, they are used mainly as sign markers and psychological barriers.  These are extremely prevalent in the United Kingdom.

Retractable / Removable Bollards

Not all applications for bollards are intended to be permanent or always prevent access.  As such, retractable and removable bollards have been designed to allow the owner or a potential traveler access the area normally denied by the bollard.

From Wikipedia.org

This is typically done in one of several ways.  The lowest technology is the pipe-in-a-tube method where a socket is created in the ground.  The bollard can then be removed from the socket when access is to be granted.  This is inexpensive, but requires manual intervention to access the area.

A second way is through the use of pivoting bollards.  A locking pin is used to hold the bollard upright under normal circumstances, and removed to allow the bollard to lay flat when a vehicle is to pass over it.   These bollards are generally flat in shape to allow for vehicle clearance.  Often, the pin is locked in place with a padlock to prevent unauthorized access.

Finally, the most expensive method is the automatic retractable bollard.  Usually hydraulic powered, the bollard actually retracts straight down into the ground and becomes flush with the surface during access.  Actuation of a hydraulic bollard can be by any number of methods, from security guard push button to remote controls and toll booth pay systems.

Uses of Bollards

In the next four parts of this article, I’ll discuss ideal uses for bollards for each of the following areas of concern:

1. Traffic Denial
2. Parking Lot Protection
3. Drive-Thru Lanes
4. Factories and Warehouses

Certain types of bollards I discussed today are more or less appropriate for each application, depending on the required function.  I’ll discuss that in detail for each type.

The Importance of Bollard Signs

Bollard signs have become increasingly prominent sights in both public and private spaces over the past several years.  As cities become more densely packed and the planet grows increasingly urbanized, they will play ever greater roles in public welfare.  This is true for the following reasons:

1. The signage can be prominently displayed, especially when the sign is mounted on top of an existing bollard, such as those found in front of parking spaces.  Such bollards typically rise approximately one meter high, providing a handy perch to mount signs on.  Traffic studies have shown that the addition of less than a meter in signage height makes a significant difference in how quickly motorists perceive public notices.
2. With a removable signage arrangement, signs can be changed at will to meet evolving needs.  This is a simple matter of installing a standard sized metal sleeve in the top of the bollard, as well as a locking mechanism to prevent removal or tampering.
3. Attaching signage to existing pedestrian or traffic bollards protects them from damage by motor vehicles, due to the bollards’ exceptionally sturdy structure.  Low-speed collisions with signs are common in parking areas, due to careless or inattentive drivers.  However, bollards both discourage such accidents (due to their high degree of prominence) and mitigate their effects on important notices when they do occur.
4. Bollards also enhance signage prominence by the fact that they are traditionally painted high-profile colors, such as bright orange and yellow.  This is especially significant in today’s urban environment, where drivers are subjected to ever-increasing competition for their attention from both public and private notices.

Urban planners and safety engineers will face ever-greater challenges in the years to come, as the world’s growing population increasingly flocks to large cities in pursuit of economic opportunities.  Bollard signs have an important role to play in ensuring public safety in these tightly packed environments, and their use should be greatly encouraged.

Find out more about our bollards at www.slowstop.com.