We may not be much familiar with the term ‘bollard’ but the fact is that we witness bollards daily in our everyday lives. We see bollards alongside roads, outside buildings, in parking lots, in public places, etc.
They are used for different purposes. That is why they are built in different shapes and sizes and from different materials. They are installed at different places to serve different purposes. For example, on roads with high traffic, they are used for traffic management and control purposes. Similarly, they are used outside government buildings to provide security. They are also used outside private properties to prevent unauthorized parking.
What is a bollard?
In terms of definition, a bollard is a vertical parking post-like structure that is used as a barrier. It is used to create hindrances and control traffic. However, the major purpose of this product is to withstand the effect of collision in case of an accident.
Bollards come in different types according to the purpose they serve and the place where they have to be installed. For example, bollards installed along roadsides are made of heavy materials like iron or steel to withstand the impact of the collision. Similarly, bollards installed in public parks are mostly made of wood or plastic because they serve guidance purposes only.
Pros and Cons of Bollards
Bollards are a very useful product for traffic management and control. They are also very well used for providing security purposes.
We have created a list of the pros and cons of bollards to let you understand the uses and benefits in a better way.
Pros of BollardsS
1.Safety
Bollards are a source of providing safety for both pedestrians and vehicles. They are placed in heavy traffic areas in order to prevent the impact of collisions. In this way, they provide safety to the people walking on footpaths along roads. They also provide safety for vehicles by creating a hindrance, managing and controlling the speed, and reducing speeds by guiding the traffic.
Similarly, bollards are also placed on footpaths to guide people to the right path so that they do not disturb the flow of traffic.
2.Security
This is also a very common use and advantage of security posts and bollards. For example, in areas with heavy traffic, heavy-weight metallic bollards are installed to prevent collisions and accidents.
They are also placed on construction sites to guide the traffic that construction work is going a place and they should not take that path take the alternate path, etc. Construction bollards are made of shiny plastic material. They are made of luminous colors to make them more visually effective.
3.Environment Friendly
Bollards made of concrete or PVC do not provide any harm to the environment. They are made of strong material so that they can last longer but they do not need deep excavation in the ground for installation. That is why they are considered to be environment friendly and they also prevent deforestation.
This is known to be a very beneficial advantage of bollards as our environment is becoming much more polluted with every passing day. The need of the hour is that we should use products that are safe for our environment.
4.Visually Appealing
As we mentioned earlier that bollards could be made in different styles and designs. They can be customized in different colors and materials to meet customer requirements. This type of bollard is known as a decorative bollard.
They are available in different designs and colors to match the overall architecture or theme of a building or surrounding environment to make them more appealing visually.
Cons of Bollards
1.Space Requirements
This is an obvious fact that bollards need space for installation. If there are very busy roads that need bollards badly but due to shortage of space, it is impossible to install bollards for traffic management on those roads. Therefore, the space requirement is a major drawback of bollards. The road management authorities should add space for bollard installation during road construction to prevent future issues.
2.Plastic Bollards Do not Last Longer
The main purpose of the plastic bollard installation is to provide guidance to the general public orb for decoration. Therefore, they are not made of heavy material. Instead, plastic is used for making guidance and decorative bollards. We know that plastic is not a strong material and it wears off easily. Therefore, it is considered a major drawback of plastic bollards. Though they are less expensive they wear off easily and require more maintenance.
3.Bollards can be Harmful
Sometimes bollards can create harm to pedestrians. In this way, bollards become harmful instead of providing any use or benefit. For example, if someone is going on a footpath and tries to cross the bollard, he can get confused and fall off the bollard. This can be very harmful as the person can get seriously injured. Therefore, bollard installation requires proper planning in order to prevent such mishaps
4.Vehicular damage
One of the biggest disadvantages of bollards is that they can very badly damage vehicles. When vehicles are at high speeds and they collide with the bollards, they can be very harmful to the vehicles. Bollards are made of heavy materials like metal or iron, etc. That is why when they bombard the vehicles at high speeds, the bollards cause irreparable damage to the vehicles.
5.Bollards Cause Confusion
If bollards are placed along roads and they are very big in size or shape, they can be confusing for the drivers and traffic. Sometimes they are not marked with proper signs which also results in confusion. These bollards do not serve any purpose as they fail to describe their meaning in the proper way.
Conclusion
As we know that bollards are designed to serve different purposes, therefore, they have both advantages and drawbacks. Therefore anyone who wants to install bollards should first go through the advantages and disadvantages mentioned above.