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Traffic bollards are short, pillar-like objects used to obstruct roads for traffic control and pedestrian safety. Bollards work by limiting movements and controlling traffic speed by narrowing the available space.
Permanent bollards can be used for traffic control or guarding against vehicle-ramming attacks. They may be mounted near enough to each other that they block ordinary cars/trucks, for instance, but spaced widely enough to permit special-purpose vehicles, bicycles, and pedestrians to pass through. Bollards may also be used to enclose . Bollards and other street furniture can also be used to control overspill parking onto sidewalks and verges.
Historically, bollards were sometimes created from old cannon, buried muzzle-downwards in the ground.
Illuminated bollards are also used to supplement Traffic sign and to provide a visual cue to approaching drivers that an obstacle exists ahead during hours of darkness and during periods of low visibility:"Road Traffic Signs and Internally Illuminated Bollards. Specification for Internally Illuminated Bollards", British Standards Institution, 1980Philip Weber, Scott Ritchie: "Internationally Recognized Roundabout Signs", Paper for the Transportation Research Board National Roundabout Conference, 2005
Internally illuminated traffic bollards have been used throughout the United Kingdom and Ireland since the 1930s, although the term "bollard" only seems to have been in common use since the late 1940s. An illuminated bollard has a recessed base light unit in the foundation to illuminate the traffic bollard from all angles.Simmonsigns, Simbol Product Specifications, 2006 The main components are housed below the road or pedestrian surface (typically a concrete surface) so that if a vehicle strikes the traffic bollard the parts below the surface are not damaged. In addition, most new modern traffic bollards installed along UK roadways today are made of materials that make them completely collapsible. When struck by a vehicle at low or high speed, the traffic bollard shell reverts to its original position with minimal or no damage to the unit.
Retroreflection bollards may also be used; they need no power or maintenance, and can be built to recover to their normal position after being struck.
The term "robotic bollards" has been applied to traffic barricades capable of moving themselves into position on a roadway.
They have been used in residential driveways to prevent car theft.
Flexible bollards are usually used for traffic calming. Technion found that putting bollards in the gore of highway exit ramps reduced accidents. They are also used to separate the flow of traffic, in bicycle lanes, as well as in residential neighbourhoods to reduce vehicle speeds by restricting road widths.
The bollards are effective protection against deliberate attacks if properly deployed and maintained. In a serious 2025 New Orleans truck attack the attacker took advantage of bollards having been removed for repair, being temporarily replaced by portable gates and parked vehicles, which proved ineffectual.
As collisions also cause damage to vehicles, operators, or the bollards themselves, new bollards have been developed that absorb some of the impact energy, lessening the violence of the collision. Some are made of forgiving plastics, and others are made of steel but fitted with an elastomer to absorb the impact energy. Bollards are widely used to contribute to safety and security. The American Bar Association (ABA) states that bollards are used to contribute to homeland security.Ernest B. Abbott and Otto J. Hetzel, "Homeland Security Begins at Home: Local Planning and Regulatory Review to Improve Security", in Rufus Calhoun Young, Jr. and Dwight H. Merriam, A Legal Guide to Homeland Security and Emergency Management for State and Local Governments, American Bar Association, 2006 The American National Institute of Building Sciences site—the Whole Building Design Guide (WBDG)—recommends in its Design Guidance that open spaces surrounding and contiguous to buildings be included as integral parts of a security design.
There are two main kinds of security-related bollard:
According to the National Institute of Building Sciences, non-crash-resistant bollards are "perceived impediments to access" and address the actions of two groups:
High security bollards are impact-tested in accordance with one or more of three major crash test ratings for vehicle barriers. These are PAS 68 (UK), IWA-14 (International) and ASTM (US).
In Antwerp, Belgium, artist Eddy Gabriel transformed a bollard to look like a toadstool in 1993. This example was followed by other artists, turning the quayside of the river Scheldt into a street art gallery.
In Norwich, England, a set of 21 bollards was installed in 2008 in the Lanes area north of City Hall, designed by artist Oliver Creed and commissioned by the City Council as part of a regeneration programme. They are coloured "Rose madder red", in reference to the red dye extracted from the Rubia tinctorum plant and used for Dye cloth, one of the city's major industries during the 16th century; and they bear bronze also alluding to local history. 10 of these depict the madder plant, while the other 11 have unique designs, usually relevant to the specific location in which the bollard is placed, including a scene of sheep-shearing, a Green Man, a swan's head in Swan Lane, and so on.
On the forecourt of Cambridge University Library, England, a line of 14 bronze bollards made to resemble piles of books was installed in 2009. This work, Ex Libris, was created by sculptor Harry Gray. The ten outer bollards are static, but the "books" making up the four central bollards can be swivelled, so that the lettering on their spines aligns to form the Latin phrase Ex Libris ("from/out of the books"), commonly used on .
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