In the world of street furniture, a litter bin is a litter bin, but a bollard can have more than just one application, so making the right choice can be trickier than you think.

Versatile, and long-lasting, Glasdon’s bollard range offers a variety of shapes and sizes for various applications. From self-righting, impact-absorbing retroreflective bollards to full ram raid protection, Glasdon bollards can fit many settings and serve a multitude of purposes, depending on your requirements and needs. All this boils down to a few simple questions.

What do you need your bollards for?

While bollards are primarily used in traffic and highway settings, marking hazards or offering active and passive safety and peace of mind for road users, their versatility opens them up for usage in various other settings, including hospitals, factories, parks, industrial estates, public and private car parks, pedestrian areas, cycle and bus lanes, private properties, and many more.

Depending on the setting and the environment, a bollard can serve one or multiple purposes.

• Delineation – to mark the exact position of a border or boundary, for example, to mark the edge of a carriageway. The Neopolitan™ 150 is a fantastic example of this, helping mark the carriageway boundary in urban locations whilst our verge marker range is ideal for delineating rural routes. Away from public highways, bollards are great for setting out space or delineating and controlling vehicle access and movement around all types of sites.


• Hazard Marking – to warn road users of obstacles or hazards, such as traffic management features, sharp turns, a sudden change in road set-up, or an oncoming hazard, and help indicate what road users can and cannot do. Most of our bollards are suited for this purpose, however, the Neopolitan™ and Jubilee™ bollard ranges offer multiple reflective banding options to help make hazards even more conspicuous to on-road users and on-site traffic. Several of our bollards are available in Impactapol® material, offering passive safety for high-speed roads and areas where the risk or frequency of impact is higher.


• Warning, Informing & Protecting – to convey safety and road information, warn road users of obstacles, and protect them from hazards. Signed bollards such as Mini Ensign™, Ensign™ or the Cyclemaster™ are excellent options helping to safely mark cycle routes for cycle lane users. However, signage options are endless, making these bollards ideal for use on any site to provide information relevant to safety and security.


• Directing and Controlling Traffic at Junctions and Entrances – to indicate where vehicles are permitted and not permitted access, such as to pedestrian areas or cycling lanes, and help guide traffic in a certain direction, for example, for delivery lorries that require access to a certain area of an industrial estate, warehouse or factory. Thanks to their visibility and the addition of a 300 mm sign face, bollards like the Signmaster Ultra™ help enforce lane restrictions and mark junctions safely.


• Parking Prevention, Site Access control, Vehicle Movement Restriction – to limit access to certain areas and indicate where vehicles may not stop or park to prevent them from obstructing access. Should signage also be required for parking prevention and restrictions, as well as informational display, the Infomaster™ offers a more than ideal solution. Socketed bollards can offer the best of both worlds. Permanent when in situ, with the facility for keyed removal of the bollard from its ground socket temporarily should vehicular access be required on occasion. Ideal for clean air schemes outside schools or on any site where vehicular access to parts of a site needs to be restricted or controlled to certain vehicles.


• Hostile Vehicle Mitigation, Infrastructure Resilience and Security – to prevent vehicles from colliding with buildings or pedestrians, and protect critical infrastructure such as bridges, telecoms, utilities, high security sites, and other road users from vehicular threats, such as vehicle attacks. Anti-Ram-Raid bollards, such as the Neopolitan™ 150 Guardsman best serve this purpose.

What do you want to happen if a bollard is struck?

The type of bollard you need will depend on how likely it will be struck by an oncoming vehicle. How often do you think this will happen? Do you expect it to happen frequently, occasionally, or never? Do you expect it to be struck accidentally or intentionally? Do you want your bollard to stop the vehicle or prevent damage to it or its occupants? Whatever the answer to these questions is will determine a bollard’s integrity, performance standard, material and rigidity.

Many of our bollards come in either a rigid Durapol® or rebound Impactapol® variation.

Rigid Bollards

Do you expect your bollards to be struck by vehicles less frequently or never? Then rigid bollards are the way to go.

Rigid bollards offer sturdiness, durability and integrity where needed. Constructed from Durapol, a strong, lightweight and long-lasting material, they are commonly used as hazard or road markers to prevent access and help guide traffic where needed. When necessary, rigid bollards help absorb the force of the impact, preventing harm to buildings and people. At low-speed impacts, they can maintain their shape and integrity. At higher-speed impacts, however, they can commonly shear or break, meaning they may have to be repaired or replaced. Most of our bollards are available in Durapol. Bollards constructed from our Enviropol® material, and our impact-absorbing rubber Buffer™ bollard also fall into this category.

Rebound Bollards

Expecting more frequent collisions? Is the likelihood of the bollard being struck higher? Then, rebound bollards are the way forward.

Rebound bollards, offer passive safety where needed. Rather than absorbing the force of the impact when struck, rebound bollards “yield” when hit and will return to their original shape for continued performance. Constructed from Impactapol, a material that lends them their passive safety, rebound bollards will not commonly break or shear, and remain functional after more than one collision, meaning they will not have to be replaced or repaired as often as rigid bollards.

Most bollards in the range are available as a rebound option. Additionally, Bollards that come with a Lockfast™ Socket System can be both rebound and socketed, meaning they are passively safe and easy to install and replace.

Ram Raid Protection

Retailers and sites with high ticket items such as jewellers, electronics, plant and equipment or banking cash machines require protection from coordinated ram raid attacks. Sensitive or valuable infrastructure often needs protection from both accidental and intentional vehicle impact. Additionally, sites of strategic importance such as nuclear power stations, transport terminals, bridge structures, high-profile government buildings, MoD sites and ancient monuments all pose high-profile targets for acts of terrorism and need to consider hostile vehicle mitigation measures. Is there a history of premeditated attacks for your location? In those cases, Ram Raid protection offers the highest level of safety and security, and bollards can help add resilience to a site's infrastructure.

Ram raid protection bollards, such as the Neopolitan™ 20 and the Neopolitan™ 150 Guardsman, are designed to prevent vehicles from ramming into buildings or storefronts. Anti-ram raid bollards come with a Guardsman anti-ram raid fixing as standard, providing additional security, and the ability to stop an unladen van at speeds up to 30mph.

Do you want your bollard to be permanent or removable?

With a selection of fixing options available, Glasdon bollards can come in removable or permanent variants, making them ideal for various applications.

Removable Bollards

When it comes to removable bollards, socket system fixings offer a high degree of flexibility. They allow for the fast and easy removal and replacement of bollards. This is vital in dangerous, high-risk highway applications where quick and easy replacement can reduce the likelihood of injury to highway operatives and help avoid the need for prolonged traffic management, saving both time and money. For use on other sites such as airports, hospitals, schools, colleges and universities where vehicle access to certain areas needs to be controlled to all but a few vehicles, the option of being able to remove a bollard from its socket helps a site run smoothly.

Lockfast™ Socket System

Made from long-lasting, corrosion-resistant Durapol material, the Lockfast socket is 350mm deep and has a flat base for easy and quick installation. Thanks to its double-skinned design it is able to absorb the impact of most collisions. The socket and surrounding surface are left intact, making it easy for any damaged bollards to be replaced quickly and easily, without further groundwork or prolonged traffic management. Depending on your individual needs, bollards with Lockfast Socket Systems, such as the Advanced Neopolitan and the Manchester bollards, can be specified as either rigid or rebound.

Standard Socket System

The standard socket is 500mm deep and double-skinned, offering added strength. Just like the Lockfast socket, it is designed to absorb the impact of most collisions, leaving the socket itself as well as the surrounding surface intact, and making the replacement of bollards quick and easy.

Permanent Bollards

Below-ground Extended Base

The extended base and horizontal ground fixing are secured in concrete to ensure a bollard’s permanent installation.

Bolt-down Fixing

Offering a quick installation of a bollard, estimated at under 8 minutes, the bolt-down fixing is applied to an existing concrete sub-surface. This provides a permanent fixing point as well as a flush finish eliminating any trip hazards should the bollard be removed.

Bolt-down Fixing with Adjustable Depth Concrete-in Anchor

Bolt-down fixing combined with four adjustable depth concrete-in anchors provide additional anchorage and a permanent fixing point for Durapol and Impactapol bollards. Adjustable depth concrete-in anchors can be used in freshly laid concrete sub-surfaces and help create a flush ground finish that eliminates trip hazards should a bollard ever be removed. Additionally, the anchors can be easily adjusted to fit depths from 130mm to a maximum of 320mm.

Bolt-down Fixing with Fixed Depth Concrete-in Anchor

Suitable for freshly laid concrete sub-surfaces, bolt-down fixings with fixed-depth concrete-in anchors offer a minimum depth of 250mm and provide additional ground anchorage.

The majority of the bollards in our Neopolitan range are available with these kinds of bolt-down fixing options.

Guardsman™ Anti-ram Raid Fixing

The Guardsman anti-ram raid fixing features a galvanised steel reinforcing tube that extends 745mm below ground level. This provides an integral root for excellent strength and superb impact resistance. The tube is filled with concrete and the bollard outer is securely attached with hidden coupling bolts.

What do you want your bollard to look like?

For diverse applicability, our Neopolitan range offers a variety of bollards that fit into multiple settings. Thanks to their neutral, modern design, with coloured reflective banding, our Neopolitan 20, 150 and Advanced Neopolitan fit into many environments, offering a balance of style and passive safety.

For areas that benefit from more traditionally styled bollards, our Victory, Jubilee and Manchester bollards offer a more traditional cast iron look. Rather than cast iron, our bollards are made from passively safe Impactapol or rigid Durapol. This means they will not rust or decay over time and provide easier installation and replacement in case of damage, making them more cost-effective, as well as more flexible and durable.

For a more concrete styled bollard, look no further than our Admiral™ bollard. The Admiral is a bollard designed to replicate a rough cast concrete finish. However, instead of concrete, it is constructed from Durapol with a heavily textured surface whilst the Impactapol version is smooth. Not only does this reduce both potential replacement and maintenance costs, thanks to reduced wear and tear over time, the Impactapol version is also passively safe.

Wood is another culprit for wear and tear after prolonged usage. Wood fades and rots over time, necessitating frequent maintenance or replacement. Our Glenwood™ bollard range is constructed from Everwood™ material, designed to simulate a natural wood bollard without the need to replace or repair the bollard every few years, offering a far longer lifespan.

Do you need your bollard to be effective 24 hours a day?

Depending on when, where and how effective you need your bollards to be at night, can determine how visible they have to be.

Retroreflective bollards offer peak visibility and provide vital conspicuity in highway and road applications where most needed.

Many bollards will have purposefully recessed areas to accommodate retroreflective banding, either at the top or, in most cases, both the top and the bottom. This banding ensures that products like the Glasdon Manchester, Victory, the Neopolitan 150 and the Advanced Neopolitan 150 remain conspicuous and visible even at times and in areas with low visibility.

For ultimate conspicuity, consider adding body sleeves to your bollard. The Neopolitan range (excluding the Advanced Neopolitan) and the Jubilee bollard also come with an optional full retroreflective body sleeve that covers a larger area of the bollard’s stem, offering even more visibility and conspicuity.

Energy Efficient LED-lit bollards such as the Signmaster™ LED or the Signmaster™ Ultralow bollards can help provide constant visibility and conspicuity without breaking the bank or wasting power.

For more information and a closer look at specific products, just view our range of road safety bollards and equipment. If you need any further help with the topics discussed in this article, or if you want to find out how our bollards can benefit you, feel free to contact our team of experienced representatives today.