Bollards are what you install when the point is stopping a vehicle
Fixed, removable, or automatic and retractable — the same idea at three budgets, protecting the storefront, the entry, or the pedestrian line.
- Configurations
- 3
- Rise time
- 3–8 sec
- Rated options
- Available
How it works on a commercial site
Bollards do the job a barrier arm cannot. Fixed bollards protect a building line permanently. Removable bollards let you open a fire lane or a delivery route when you need it. Automatic retractable bollards drop below grade on a credential and come back up behind the vehicle.
The engineering that matters is below the surface. A bollard is only as good as its foundation, and a retractable one also needs drainage — a sleeve that fills with water in November is a bollard frozen in place by January. We detail the footing and the drainage on the drawing, not on site.
- Fixed, removable, and automatic retractable options
- Foundations engineered to the threat, not standardised
- Retractable sleeves detailed with drainage and heaters
- Certified crash-rated units where a rating is required
- Pairs with barrier arms for traffic plus security
Typical working range
| Fixed | Permanent protection for building lines, storefronts, utilities |
|---|---|
| Removable | Lockable sockets for fire lanes and periodic access |
| Automatic | Below-grade retraction on credential, 3 to 8 second rise |
| Crash rating | Certified rated units available where specified |
| Foundation | Engineered to the unit and the threat; reinforced concrete |
| Drainage | Sleeve drainage required on all retractable units |
| Cold weather | Sleeve heaters recommended in our service area |
| Finish | Powder coat, stainless sleeve, or reflective banding |
Ask for a crash rating explicitly if you need one. Rated and non-rated bollards look nearly identical and cost very differently — we will not assume either way.
Common questions
Do I need crash-rated bollards?
Only if a specification, insurer, or authority requires a rating. Rated units are certified to stop a defined vehicle at a defined speed and cost substantially more. For most storefront and pedestrian protection, a well-founded non-rated bollard is what is actually needed.
Will retractable bollards freeze in a New England winter?
Not if the sleeve is drained and heated. This is the single most common failure we get called out to on other contractors' installs. We detail drainage and heaters on the drawing before anything is poured.
Can bollards be operated from the same credential as the gate?
Yes. We run them off the same controller and credential set, so one card or plate raises the barrier and drops the bollards in the correct sequence.
Need a gate that holds up to commercial duty?
We survey the opening, size the operator to the leaf, and hand you a written scope you can put out to bid.
Request a site survey
Send the opening width, the traffic it sees, and what the site has to do. Prefer to talk now? Ring (617) 501-7139 and you’ll reach a person, not a phone tree.
- No cost, no obligation, no pressure
- Written scope you can put out to bid or hand to a GC
- Most replies inside one business day