Concrete bollards are a common sight across modern cities and an integral part of urban design. They are an effective tool which combines robust security with aesthetic versatility. Concrete bollards’ typical construction is primarily from reinforced or precast concrete, as their name suggests, and these durable barriers serve as essential tools for protecting buildings, pedestrian zones, and infrastructure from vehicle impacts.
They are relatively easy to manufacture and are valued for their strength, stability, and ability to complement various architectural styles. These qualities make them a favoured choice for both public and private spaces. Concrete bollards offer an efficient and reliable solution to meet diverse safety and design needs, whether used for security, traffic control, or decorative purposes.
In this blog, we’ll explore concrete bollards’ features, applications, and advantages and why they’re indispensable in today’s urban landscapes.
Key Features of Concrete Bollards
Concrete bollards stand out for their clever combination of strength, durability, and adaptability, making them an essential feature in various settings. Their robust design ensures safety and security in high-impact scenarios without compromising on looks. Let’s delve into the core attributes that make these barriers such dependable and widespread solutions.
Strength and Durability
Concrete is known for its compressive strength, which is the ability to withstand forces that push or squeeze materials together. This quality is part of what makes concrete so popular for bollards and other street furniture, like this Anti-Ram Bin. A bin like this, or a concrete bollard, is a very effective barrier when it comes to vehicle collisions and ram-raids because it can easily withstand the forces involved in such an incident. The concrete’s compressive strength ranges from 20 to 40 MPa (megapascals), with specialised mixes reaching even higher thresholds. This capacity ensures bollards can absorb and redistribute the energy from impacts, maintaining their structural integrity.
Concrete bollards are often reinforced with internal steel bars or high-strength synthetic fibres to enhance durability further. These reinforcements improve the bollard’s tensile strength, which is the resistance to forces that pull or stretch materials apart — a critical enhancement since concrete alone has relatively low tensile strength. Reinforcement prevents cracking or fracturing under dynamic stresses, ensuring the bollard remains functional and intact over long periods and harsh conditions.
Weight and Stability
The natural weight of a concrete bollard is high, which means that in some cases, it can even be placed without any additional anchoring. This isn’t recommended in all cases, but it can be enough in some – for example, on grass where you want to deter cars from parking. However, we always recommend additional anchoring for anywhere that requires more serious protection, like building fronts and car parks, as simply laying it on the sidewalk will not stop a car from trying to ram-rain a shop window. Something with a deep base like our SS 1370 Concrete Bollard is perfect for the job.
Aesthetic Versatility
Concrete bollards are available in a variety of shapes on the market. We offer two sizes of globe-shaped ones – a smaller and a larger one; and two sizes of more traditional bollard-shaped ones, with the SS 915 at 455mm above ground and the SS 1270 standing taller at 915mm above ground.
The versatility of concrete bollards comes from their ability to easily take on colour. They can be painted, stained, or covered with decorative elements to match architectural designs.
Low Maintenance
Concrete bollards are designed for long-term performance with minimal upkeep. Concrete, especially when reinforced, is highly resistant to the elements – it doesn’t rust, corrode or get warped by sun exposure. This resistance ensures that their structural integrity and appearance remain intact over time, even in harsh outdoor conditions.
The fact that the concrete bollards are solid and have non-porous surfaces makes them less prone to staining and damage from dirt. They still require occasional cleaning but no special regiment. Concrete bollards offer a cost-efficient, low-maintenance solution suitable for a wide range of applications.
Applications of Concrete Bollards
Concrete bollards are a great tool in your belt when it comes to traffic and safety management. They can be used in many places and made to fit their environment really well.
They are great at security and protection when used around buildings, car parks, or pedestrian areas to prevent vehicle intrusion. They often get installed near storefronts, government facilities, and high-traffic zones to prevent ram-raids, terrorist attacks and general accidental damage.
Concrete bollards can be used in traffic control and parking management, just like other types of bollards. They can be used as demarcation lines to help guide vehicles or restrict access to certain areas. They can also be used to line sidewalks, especially in places prone to traffic accidents where there is a high pedestrian risk. This is especially important in very crowded areas, which both cars and pedestrians use.
Concrete bollards can also serve purely decorative purposes to enhance the look of public spaces like parks, squares, and business districts. They are a good choice because they can be unobtrusive, guide traffic, and protect pedestrians without attracting too much attention. Due to their looks, they can be styled to blend with historical or modern environments.
Pros and Cons of Concrete Bollards
As we discussed above, concrete bollards are very good at impact resistance due to their high compressive strength and improved tensile strength by the addition of reinforced internal steel bars. They can be used to protect buildings, pedestrians and property, and they won’t fail you easily.
They are also very low-maintenance. Unlike their steel counterparts, they don’t rust and corrode, which gives them very long life spans for minimal effort and care. This means that concrete bollards can be cheaper in the long run.
Speaking of cost, they have another advantage over alternative solutions – concrete bollards are quite affordable compared to other ones made from steel or stainless steel. That alone makes them an option worth exploring.
In terms of disadvantages, concrete bollards do have some. They are heavy. This can be a positive, as we discussed above, but it also means they are a little difficult to lift, transport and relocate once installed. They are also always a permanent installation. Unlike metal bollards, which have removable and retractable models, concrete stays where it was installed.
Their weight and build can sometimes do some damage, and impact can cause cracking. Although reinforced designs mitigate this issue, it is still something to be mindful of.
Concrete bollards provide an outstanding blend of functionality and versatility, making them indispensable in various urban, commercial, and public settings. Their robust construction, ability to withstand high impacts, and minimal maintenance needs make them a cost-effective and reliable safety solution. Concrete bollards offer benefits that cater to both practical and aesthetic requirements, from enhancing security and guiding traffic to adding a decorative element to public spaces.
While their weight and permanent installation might present challenges, these factors also contribute to their stability and effectiveness. Concrete bollards stand out as an excellent choice for anyone seeking a durable, low-maintenance solution for safety and design needs.