If you’re considering protecting your residential or commercial property, then automatic bollards may be the solution. These security posts come in a range of models with an advanced variety of features, from smartphone compatibility to intercom control, battery-powered to mains-powered. Having the ability to control these posts remotely with quick and safe results is what makes them such a popular choice across industries and services.

In this post, we’ll explore automatic bollards and their applications and how they can improve or upgrade your existing security measures.

How do automatic bollards work?

Also known as electric bollards and rising bollards, automatic bollards work via their electrical systems and hydraulic mechanisms. Without needing to lift or lower it manually, this bollard can be controlled via external controls, including fobs, control units, intercoms, and even smartphone apps. This makes these security bollards some of the easiest to operate. 

Automatic bollards have a variety of features from model to model, such as fail safes that lower bollards upon power failure, fail secures that keep them up upon power failure, rechargeable batteries, and high-level crash certifications.

What can automatic bollards be used for?

There are multiple applications for automatic bollards, where remote access, speed, and quality are especially handy.

Residential driveways

If you’d like to create a truly streamlined system for protecting your car, automatic bollards are the answer. With the control fob transmitter, you’ll be able to lower the bollard into the ground as you approach your property, ready to drive over smoothly instead of parking, getting out of the car and lowering the post manually. Automatic bollards are an excellent choice for those wanting a seamless driving transition from driveway to road and back again.

If you’re interested in protecting your vehicle and driveway space with an automatic bollard, we recommend the Stoppy B 115/500 SS Electro Mechanical Bollard, a fantastic automated security post designed for residential areas and private parking spaces. If you’re looking for a less intrusive and more cost-effective installation, then the Echo Rise Battery Powered bollards are self-contained bollards with a rechargeable battery which requires charging every 6 months.  

Commercial parking

If your business or office building has private parking, automatic bollards are a fantastic solution for letting the right people in and out. Giving your staff the bollard control fobs will permit them to get in and out of the car park with ease and efficiency while preventing people who don’t work there from accessing the parking spaces. 

Similarly, a keypad or intercom can ensure that unauthorised visitors can’t gain access. This is especially useful in urban areas where people will attempt to park anywhere they can reach to save themselves from paying for parking.

Public areas & Hostile Vehicle Mitigation (HVM)

Automatic bollards strategically placed along the side of streets can help control traffic and delivery vehicles. If you need to keep regular traffic off the pavement but allow for deliveries, bollards that can be lowered remotely for the delivery vehicles come in handy.

Another application in public is keeping pedestrians safe from traffic. This is essential when there are far more people than usual in public spaces. For example, when the Wimbledon Championships occur, automatic bollards are used to hold back traffic away from the larger-than-normal crowds of tennis fans on the streets. 

Anti-terrorist crash-rated rising HVM bollards from Safetyflex are perfect for this style of application, and only require a 450mm deep footing so can be installed at a fraction of the cost of traditional large automatic bollard systems.

In popular city centres, there can often be restrictions or significant congestion underground with services, so there is a range of shallow-mounted products which can be employed where there is the inability to dig 1m – 1.5m deep. Rhino Security can specify the right product for your project based on the natural site restrictions and crash-rating requirements. 

Schools

To prevent vehicles from accessing school grounds, be it a nursery or university, automatic bollards are a useful tool to put in place. Operated by an admin, reception or security team, the bollards can be lowered and lifted upon confirmation of the driver via an intercom system. This can help protect students and staff from unknown visitors, permit emergency service vehicles, and allow staff cars in and out.

Venues & HVM

Unfortunately, there are people who mean to cause a great deal of harm and destruction, and a route they take to do this is attacking busy venues. Large buildings that house concerts, sports games, and large conventions are sometimes a target of these attacks. To assist in protecting the many thousands of people inside, the highest quality crash-rated automatic bollard can be used on the perimeter and in entryways.

Security bollards such as these are specifically designed to slow down and stop powerful vehicles. The XPASS B 275/800 has a crash rating of M30/K4, which means it can protect against a 75000kg vehicle driving at 30mph. This vehicle weight includes tanker lorries, trucks, buses, and more heavy goods vehicles. This bollard comes with other advanced features, such as power loss fail safes, powerful hydraulic operators, smartphone and intercom control, and weather endurance.

Will an automatic bollard stop a car?

Bollards can stop cars if their quality is high enough, such as stainless steel posts with solid cores or reinforced foundations. The models chosen must also be suitable to stop a car – for example, if you opt for a timber bollard, chances are a vehicle will drive through it. When choosing your security bollards, it’s important to suit the model and material to your requirements.

At Rhino, we stock security bollards strong enough to slow down and stop vehicles, made of high-quality materials and installed with expert service to get the most out of the product. If you want a bollard that will stop a vehicle theft attempt, for example, then opt for heavy-duty stainless steel posts built deep into the ground, like the Stoppy B 200/700 SS.

Want to see our bollards in action? Take a look at the CCTV footage of our perimeter bollards stopping a car theft.

Automatic bollards from Rhino Security

We are experts in bollard security, so let us help you protect your property and people. Whether preventing someone from stealing your car, limiting access to a parking space, or standing as a barrier between the public and students, automatic bollards are a quick, efficient and remote solution.

If you’d like to learn more about our range of automatic posts, don’t hesitate to get in touch. Use our live chat feature to speak to a member of the team, or give us a call on 01603 484999.