Bollard Transportation

Bollard Transportation
Name	Bollard Transportation
Type	Vehicle restraint and traffic control

Contents

Bollard Transportation is the practice and industry sector concerned with the design, manufacture, deployment, and operation of bollards and related movable barriers used in transportation, traffic control, and perimeter security. It intersects with sectors such as Transport for London, Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, Metropolitan Transportation Authority, Los Angeles Department of Transportation, and private firms like Cubic Corporation and Vanasse Hangen Brustlin. The field draws on standards from organizations including International Organization for Standardization, American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials, and European Committee for Standardization.

Definition and Types

Bollard Transportation encompasses fixed bollards, retractable bollards, illuminated bollards, security bollards, inflatable bollards, and kinetic bollards used by entities such as New York City Department of Transportation, Transport for NSW, City of Paris, Greater Manchester Combined Authority, and Tokyo Metropolitan Government. Common variants include passive bollards found at Heathrow Airport and active hydraulic bollards used at Heathrow Terminal 5, electromagnetic bollards trialed by Siemens, and removable bollards employed by Port of Rotterdam. Manufacturers and system integrators like Honeywell, Bosch, Thales Group, Schneider Electric, and ABB Group supply components, while consultancies such as AECOM, Arup Group, and Atkins (engineering) provide design and deployment services.

The modern evolution connects to urban projects managed by City of London Corporation, transportation policy shaped by the United Kingdom Ministry of Transport, and post-9/11 security measures implemented by agencies including Department of Homeland Security and Federal Highway Administration. Early physical barriers appeared in medieval cities like Venice and Florence; later mechanized solutions were showcased during fairs such as the Great Exhibition and incorporated into infrastructure programs like the New Deal and postwar reconstruction overseen by United Nations Relief and Rehabilitation Administration. Cold War era perimeter security at sites like Los Alamos National Laboratory and Oak Ridge National Laboratory drove advances paralleled by innovations at Siemensstadt and Kawasaki Heavy Industries facilities. Recent deployments for events such as the 2012 Summer Olympics, 2016 Summer Olympics, and FIFA World Cup illustrate integration with crowd management strategies used by Metropolitan Police Service and New South Wales Police Force.

Design parameters reference crash-rating protocols from ASTM International and European Committee for Standardization documents used by consultants like WSP Global and Jacobs Engineering Group. Specifications include material choices such as stainless steels supplied by ArcelorMittal and aluminum alloys produced by Alcoa, hydraulic systems from Parker Hannifin Corporation, and control electronics from Rockwell Automation. Structural analysis often employs finite-element modeling tools from ANSYS and Siemens PLM Software. Integration with access control systems from Johnson Controls and surveillance platforms by Axis Communications and Hikvision is common. Testing regimes reference procedures used at facilities like TRL Limited, VTI (Swedish National Road and Transport Research Institute), and crash-test programs at Sandia National Laboratories.

Applications span municipal streetscapes in Barcelona, pedestrianized zones in Copenhagen, waterfront protection at Sydney Harbour, airport perimeter control at John F. Kennedy International Airport, and critical infrastructure protection at LaGuardia Airport and Charles de Gaulle Airport. Use cases include event security for Super Bowl, perimeter control at U.S. Capitol, traffic calming initiatives in Amsterdam, and gated campus management at universities like Stanford University and Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Transit agencies such as Metropolitan Transportation Authority (New York) and République Française RATP employ bollards in station plazas, while ports like Port of Singapore and Port of Antwerp use heavy-duty variants for quay protection.

Regulatory frameworks involve agencies including Federal Highway Administration, Department for Transport (UK), European Commission, National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, and standards bodies like ASTM International and ISO. Certification programs reference crash ratings from PAS 68 and IWA 14-1 used by asset owners such as Crown Estates and Department of Defense (United States). Compliance checks occur under procurement rules applied by United Nations Office for Project Services and municipal codes in jurisdictions like City of New York and Los Angeles County. Insurance considerations engage underwriters like Lloyd's of London and regulatory reviews by agencies such as Financial Conduct Authority where applicable.

Installation projects are contracted through firms like Balfour Beatty, Skanska, Kiewit Corporation, and Ferrovial, often coordinated with utility providers such as National Grid (Great Britain) and Con Edison. Maintenance protocols reference asset management frameworks promoted by Institute of Asset Management and software platforms from SAP SE and IBM Maximo. Routine inspection regimes follow practices used by Transport for London and New Jersey Transit with lifecycle planning influenced by frameworks like ISO 55000. Emergency repair responses coordinate with local services including London Fire Brigade and New York City Fire Department.

Urban planners and agencies such as Department of City Planning (New York City), Barcelona City Council, Singapore Urban Redevelopment Authority, and Dublin City Council integrate bollard strategies into pedestrianization projects modeled after schemes in Zurich and Helsinki. Traffic management centers run by TfL and Transport for NSW use bollard deployments combined with signal priority systems from Siemens Mobility and smart-city platforms developed by Cisco Systems and IBM. Policy debates in forums like United Nations Human Settlements Programme and conferences hosted by ICLEI examine trade-offs between accessibility, heritage conservation in places like Old Town (Edinburgh), and security imperatives illustrated by case studies from Brussels and Nice.

Category:Traffic control devices