Bollard removal

What is it?

What is bollard removal?

Bollard removal is taking out unwanted posts and, where needed, their foundations, sockets or cassettes, then filling and reinstating the surface so no trace or trip hazard remains. Posts can be cut off at or below ground level or fully extracted with their concrete. Automatic and lighting bollards also need their electrical supply made safe by a qualified electrician.

Sites change. A car park is redesigned, a shop changes use, an access route is no longer needed, or old bollards are simply in the way of a new scheme. Removing bollards properly means dealing with what is under the ground as well as above it, because a stub of steel or an empty socket left in a footway is a trip hazard and an obstacle for anyone digging later.

We remove single posts and full lines, from simple base-plated bollards to automatic systems with cassettes, ducts and power. Removal is quoted after a free site survey with a fixed written price, and carried out by installation crews working under our management, with a qualified electrician wherever there is a supply to make safe. Before anything comes out, it is worth asking why the bollards were put there in the first place; some protect a gas meter, a building corner or a route that still needs protecting, and others were a condition of a planning permission or lease.

When to remove bollards

• Car park and forecourt redesigns
• Clearing old bollards before resurfacing
• Access routes no longer needing control
• Decommissioning automatic bollards that are no longer used
• Removing redundant lighting bollards
• Taking out broken stubs and empty sockets
• Moving bollards to new positions on the same site

How it works

There are two levels of removal. Cutting off removes the post at or just below the surface and leaves the foundation in the ground, which is quicker and causes less disruption, but leaves concrete that may get in the way of future work. Full extraction breaks out the foundation as well, leaving clean ground for new surfacing, planting or other installations. The right choice depends on what will happen to the area next. Where a crash-rated line is being removed, the foundations are usually large reinforced blocks; cutting the posts below the surface and leaving the base in place is common unless the ground is needed for something else.

Removable bollard sockets and telescopic cassettes are extracted whole, because a buried steel sleeve left under a new surface tends to show through as a crack or depression. Base-plated bollards are unbolted and the anchors cut flush or drilled out, and the holes filled. Concrete and stone bollards are lifted with suitable equipment after their dowels are broken free.

Automatic and lighting bollards need more care. A qualified electrician isolates and disconnects the supply and terminates or removes the cables. Hydraulic units are drained so that oil is collected and disposed of properly rather than left in the ground. Cassettes are lifted out, ducts are capped or removed and the pits are backfilled and compacted in layers.

Options and finishes

Typical specification

How we do it

Ground, foundations and buried services

Foundations are rarely the size anyone expects. Older bollards may sit in large blocks of concrete, and rated bollards in very large reinforced bases, so full extraction can mean substantial breaking out and spoil removal. Cables and pipes are often laid close to existing posts after they were installed, so breaking out is done carefully and services are traced first. Backfilling in compacted layers stops later settlement, which otherwise shows as a dip in the new surface. Where the area is being resurfaced anyway, removal is timed to happen first so the patching disappears under the new surface.

Rules and checks before you order

• Check whether the bollards were required by a planning condition, lease, security plan or the highway authority before removing them.
• Have automatic and lighting bollard supplies isolated and made safe by a qualified electrician.
• Collect and dispose of hydraulic fluid and waste properly rather than leaving it in the ground.
• In conservation areas, check before removing historic bollards, as consent may be needed or retention expected.
• Consider whether removal leaves an asset or route unprotected and record the decision in your risk assessment.

See rules and standards by nation for highway consent, accessibility and security standards.

Maintenance

After removal, keep an eye on reinstated areas for settlement over the following months, particularly where large foundations were broken out. If foundations were left in place, record their positions on site drawings so future contractors are not surprised by buried concrete. Where cables were terminated rather than removed, record where they are and confirm with the electrician that they are dead and labelled. Keep any keys, manuals and records from removed automatic bollards until the controller and cabling have also been dealt with, as they help an electrician confirm what was connected.

What affects the price

• Number and type of bollards
• Cutting off or full foundation extraction
• Size of foundations and amount of spoil
• Electrical isolation and hydraulic drain-down
• Surface type and reinstatement
• Access, working hours and waste disposal