Buying a bollard? Price is just one factor to consider.
Buying affordable bollards
Bollards come in a wide variety of materials and designs, each offering unique advantages and disadvantages depending on their intended use. Spending some time considering the type of functionality you’re looking for is key when budgeting for bollard cost.
Choosing the right bollards
Choosing the right kind of bollard for your project is essential to managing your bollard cost. There’s a world of bollards out there, from plastic to concrete, so how do you decide? Begin by asking the service your bollard needs to provide. Are you trying to improve security or simply manage traffic flow? Do you need to protect infrastructure? Do your bollards need to add aesthetic appeal to an area? Will your bollard be installed in a high or low vehicle traffic area? Will a single purpose bollard work, or do you want your bollards to add value to your project, perhaps through improved pedestrian lighting or increased bike parking? How durable do you need your bollard to be? How will your bollards affect your landscaping?
Ideally, you’ll want your bollards in place for years to come, so it’s important to spend some time answering these questions when planning your project’s total cost. Your answers will inform the material and design of the bollard you need, and how each factor will impact the bollard’s performance once installed. Once you’ve settled on a bollard that meets your needs and works with your budget, you’ll also want to think about maintenance options that can reduce your total outlay over time, including bollard caps, covers, and coatings. Finally, don’t forget to consider the installation choices available for your bollard.
Flexible Bollards
Cost 💲
Durability 💪 💪 💪
Impact Protective ❌
Design 🦋 🦋
Flexible plastic bollards (or impact recovery systems) are bendable bollards that flex up to 90 degrees when struck. They are perfect for tight, high-traffic spaces where minor vehicles collisions occur regularly. Highly visible, affordable, and durable, these thick polyurethane bollards can handle multiple impacts with little to no damage, lowering your replacement schedule. Flexible bollards are a perfect solution for separated traffic lanes and parking stalls.
Steel Pipe Bollards
Cost 💲 💲
Durability 💪 💪 💪 💪 💪
Impact Protective ✔️
Design 🦋
Heavy-duty steel pipe bollards are an affordable, cost-effective option for protecting utility meters and power boxes, and are suitable for use in parking lots, around gas meters, and in pedestrian areas. Basic steel pipe bollards are constructed from structural grade steel then filled with concrete to prevent buckling or collapse in the event of an impact. Steel pipe bollards are low-cost, simple to install, and are typically painted to prevent corrosion. Concrete-filled steel tube bollards can be upgraded with caps or covered with decorative architectural bollards to improve their aesthetic appeal. Steel pipe bollards are the go-to choice for buyers looking for a simple, durable affordable bollard option.
Plastic Bollard Covers
Cost 💲
Durability 💪 💪
Impact Protective ❌
Design 🦋
Plastic bollard sleeves are an affordable way to prolong the life of steel pipe bollards and reduce your total bollard cost by minimizing repair and maintenance work (such as repainting) in the long term. Plastic bollard covers protect against corrosion and weathering and prevent paint-transfer to vehicles. Plastic bollard sleeves come in a variety of colors and can improve the visibility of your bollards, making them more effective visual cues for drivers, cyclists, and pedestrians.
Stainless Steel Bollard Covers
Cost 💲 💲 💲
Durability 💪 💪 💪
Impact Protective ❌
Design 🦋 🦋 🦋 🦋
Elegant stainless steel bollard covers can be installed over affordable steel pipe bollards to add visual appeal to existing bollards and protect against weathering by taking advantage of steel’s natural resistance to corrosion and wear. High-quality stainless steel bollard covers are recommended for moist or salt-water environments, greatly reducing the need for maintenance and repair, keeping your costs low over time. Stainless steel bollard covers can be powder coated in a variety of colors to blend in seamlessly with your project.
Crash-rated bollards
Cost 💲 💲 💲 💲
Durability 💪 💪 💪 💪 💪
Impact Protective ✔️✔️
Design 🦋 🦋 🦋
Is your site near high volume traffic or potentially a target for vehicle attacks? Crash-rated bollards are designed and test-rated to stop impacts from vehicles, prioritizing stopping-power over all other considerations. Crash-rated bollards offer a high level of security against vehicle attacks, making public spaces safe from vehicle intrusion. Crash-rated bollards are a top choice for buyers prioritizing security and pedestrian safety. Covers are recommended to keep crash-rated bollards safe from the elements.
Cast Iron Decorative bollards
Cost (icon) 💲 💲 💲
Durability 💪 💪 💪 💪 💪
Impact Protective ❌ or ✔️
Design 🦋 🦋 🦋 🦋 🦋
Decorative historical cast iron bollards add a classic touch of old-world charm to any project or space. They are ideal for installation at historic sites, monuments, or heritage buildings, and they can bring character to tourist attractions or commercial districts. Made from a ductile iron-carbon alloy, cast iron decorative bollards and both rugged and beautiful, and can absorb impact without fracturing. Historical cast iron bollards are powder coated to prevent corrosion and add a distinct, architectural appeal to your project without significantly increasing your bollard cost.
Contemporary Decorative bollards
Cost 💲 💲 💲
Durability 💪 💪 💪 💪
Impact Protective ❌ or ✔️
Design 🦋 🦋 🦋 🦋
Contemporary decorative bollards offer sleek, sophisticated traffic management and blend in well with new architectural projects and landscaping. Timeless in design, contemporary bollards can be fixed or movable, offering versatility and suitability for almost any location. Contemporary decorative bollards can include secure bike parking options for cyclists, increasing an area’s walkability by encouraging bike and pedestrian traffic, making them ideal for storefronts and commercial retail districts. Optional reflective stripes can help improve visibility.
Lighted Bollards
Cost 💲 💲 💲
Durability 💪 💪 💪
Impact Protective ❌ or ✔️
Design 🦋 🦋 🦋 🦋
Lighted bollards are dual-purpose bollards offering added safety and security to pedestrians with low-level, low impact lighting for paths and walkways. Lighted bollards are a perfect blend of form and function, combining route and traffic management with low-impact light for improved pedestrian comfort. When weighing up your lighting prices, consider if the bollards will be hard-wired to an existing electrical source, which comes with an ongoing energy expenditure, or solar powered, which are cheaper to install but may not offer a dependable light source in poor weather conditions.
Retractable Bollards
Cost 💲 💲 💲 💲 💲
Durability 💪 💪 💪
Impact Protective ❌
Design 🦋 🦋 🦋 🦋
Stainless steel retractable bollards restrict access to areas as needed, offering flexibility if you need to manage traffic flow or add security to multi-use spaces. Retractable bollards can be manually released to allow temporary vehicle access to an area, or to temporarily manage traffic flow. If access to your site changes frequently and storage space is limited, retractable bollards may be a solution to the problem of carting and storing removable bollards. Retractable bollards are powder coated to prevent corrosion and wear, and require regular maintenance, including annual lubrication, which should also be considered when calculating your bollard cost.
Bolt Down Bollards
Cost 💲 💲 💲
Durability 💪 💪 💪 💪
Impact Protective ❌
Design 🦋 🦋 🦋
Bolt-down (or surface mounted) bollards can be installed on existing concrete surfaces, both indoors and out. A wide range of bollards can be installed bolt-down, including decorative and flexible bollards. Surface mounting is an affordable way to keep your bollard cost low.
Concrete Bollards
Cost 💲 💲 💲 💲
Durability 💪 💪 💪 💪
Impact Protective ✔️
Design 🦋 🦋 🦋 🦋
Reinforced with rebar, durable concrete bollards are sophisticated and protective, offering some impact protection for mixed use urban streetscapes. Concrete bollards can enhance landscaping and work well with modern architectural aesthetics. Rugged concrete bollards are impact protective with the added advantage of being virtually maintenance free.
Even this fairly extensive list of bollards misses some types. On the inexpensive side, traffic delimiters, those orange polyethylene poles often on spring hinges, are sometimes called bollards. On the more pricey side are functional bollard barrier systems run remotely on hydraulics, or ultra-shallow-mount crash-rated bollards that tie many bollards together under the pavement to offer protection against vehicle attack.
