Sector

Bollards for car parks

Protecting pay machines, walkways, barriers and EV chargers, and controlling who can use a bay or entrance.

Black bollards lining the walkway outside a supermarket entrance, separating shoppers from the car park

Computer-generated image

What car parks need from bollards

Car parks see frequent bollard impacts, almost all of them slow, low-angle knocks from reversing vehicles. The job is usually less about stopping a determined driver and more about keeping cars off walkways, away from pay stations, EV chargers and building corners, and out of bays they should not be using.

We look at traffic flow first: where vehicles turn, where people cross, where delivery vans stop, and which surfaces are tarmac over a thin sub-base rather than concrete. That decides between root-fixed steel, base-plated posts on a slab, flexible bollards that recover from a knock, and removable or fold-down posts for bays that sometimes need to open.

Typical requirements

Walkway and pedestrian route protection
Pay station, EV charger and column protection
Reserved bays with fold-down or removable posts
Entrance control with automatic or telescopic bollards
Height-appropriate reflective bands for low light
Replacing damaged posts quickly

Things to check

Multi-storey decks: never core through a post-tensioned slab without the structural engineer's sign-off; base-plated or flexible posts with resin anchors are usual.
Where posts must stop vehicles, keep clear gaps to no more than 1.2 m (wide enough for wheelchairs and buggies); on cycle routes, allow at least 1.5 m.
Light levels drop sharply in covered car parks; bright reflective bands or yellow posts are worth the extra.
If the car park is a public highway or council-run, the operator's specification may set the post type.

Car parks: questions

Which bollards survive car park knocks best?

Flexible polyurethane bollards and sprung posts recover from low-speed impacts, so they suit tight turns and columns. Where a post must actually stop a car, concrete-filled steel in a proper footing is the answer, but it will damage the vehicle and may itself need replacing after a hard hit.

Can bays be reserved without a barrier?

Yes. A fold-down parking post or a removable bollard in each bay is the usual answer — the holder unlocks it with a key. Telescopic posts suit entrances rather than single bays.

Do we need to close the car park?

Rarely. We work in sections behind barriers and cones, and core drilling and concrete curing are planned so most bays stay open.