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We witness much road equipment in our everyday lives. There are many parking posts or barriers that are used especially for traffic management and control purposes. These are known by different names like parking bollards, security bollards, security barriers, parking posts, etc. They serve different purposes and they are installed at different places according to the varying needs of customers.
What are Bollards?
Bollards are short, vertical posts like parking posts or barriers. They are mostly used on the roads or in parking lots to control, manage, and guide traffic. They are also used for many other purposes as well. They can be used to control traffic by dividing car lanes from bicycle lanes. Similarly, they can also be used outside parking lots as parking bollards for helping and guiding drivers to do safe parking. They are also used outside public places like parks and shopping malls to provide safety for pedestrians.
Due to the huge number of uses a bollard can offer, they come in a vast variety to serve different purposes. They have different shapes, sizes, materials, and costs, to cater to different customers. For example, retractable bollards provide flexibility, fixed bollards provide a permanent solution to restrict entrance, decorative bollards are used to enhance the aesthetic appeal of a building or architectural structure, etc.
Pros and Cons of Bollards
Bollards are a very useful product with a variety of uses but it also has some drawbacks that cannot be put behind. We have created a set of pros and cons of security bollards. Let’s have a look at these pros and cons in detail.
Pros of Bollards
The first and foremost advantage of bollards is that they provide optimum safety for foot traffic. They provide hindrance for vehicles in areas where there are pedestrians so that drivers become more careful in or around that particular area.
Similarly, they also provide guidelines for pedestrians so that they become aware while walking in high-traffic areas. They are guided to safe places where there will be no vehicular traffic in their way.
The presence of bollards in such areas can be very useful as they can help prevent accidents and mishaps due to the overspeeding of vehicles or carelessly walking pedestrians.
Another advantage is that they provide vehicular security. In high-traffic areas with heavy traffic, metallic and heavy-duty bollards are placed to reduce the chances of collision and impact of the collision.
They are also placed around construction sites to guide the vehicles that a certain place is restricted due to some purpose and they cannot enter the area. In this way, they make sure the security of vehicles and drivers as well.
They can be customized according to customer needs. For example, construction bollards are made of shiny plastic with luminous colors so that they can be easily visible to the drivers even from a distant place and they control the speed accordingly.
Another positive aspect is that they can also serve decorative purposes. As described in the above text, decorative bollards are also available in the market that can be used to match the design or architecture of a certain building to enhance the overall look or appearance.
They can also be used in public parks for example; wooden bollards are installed in parks to match the surrounding scenery as well as to guide the visitors to a specific location in the park.
- Less Harmful to the Environment
Concrete and PVC bollards are easily available in the market. They are made of strong and sturdy material that will last longer. They also do not need much excavation in the ground for installation which means they help prevent deforestation. This means that they are less harmful to our environment.
Cons of Bollards
One of the major drawbacks of bollards is that they require proper space for installation. If there is a very busy road with high traffic, and there is an obvious need for security post and bollards but there is no sufficient space available for installation, then they cannot be installed despite the dire need. Therefore, it is considered to be a huge disadvantage of security bollards.
- Plastic Bollards Wear Off Easily
Plastic bollards are installed in places where the main purpose is guidance or decoration. We know that plastic is not a durable or strong material and it wears off easily. Plastic bollards are functional in certain circumstances only and are not suitable for every place because they are not as stronger as concrete or metal bollards.
Sometimes bollards are installed in a way that causes more damage than benefit. For example, bollards installed on roadsides are placed for pedestrian and vehicular safety but sometimes pedestrians get confused and bombard them. They are made of sturdy material therefore they can seriously hurt or injure a person.
Vehicular damage is another aspect of bollard installation that cannot be overlooked. We described earlier that bollards on roads are made of metal or concrete so that they can reduce the impact of collisions when vehicles collide with them. However, we cannot deny the fact that this collision causes serious damage to vehicles; some of these damages are so huge that they are even irreparable.
Concluding Comments
Bollards take up space and can cause vehicular damage. They have many other disadvantages as well. However, if we look at the list of advantages we get convinced by the fact that this product is no doubt very efficient in managing and controlling traffic. Moreover, they also serve decorative and guidance purposes.
