Has Anyone Installed Pipe Bollards?

[Vic_N]

I need more security at my driveway entrance; we've got people cruising my country road daily, stealing every metal object they can find. I want to install some large pipe in the ground on each side of the driveway so I can chain the entrance (see photo attached). The ditch is so deep along the road, the chain should slow down the thieves.

I'd like to use a 5" diameter 1/4" galvanized pipe with 36" above grade and 36" below grade set in concrete the full 36"? I'd have bolt holes near the top for eyebolts to attach chain.

Sound like I'm making sense? Can anyone give me some pointers from lessons learned? Thank you.

Vic

[Jeff244]

Vic,

It's been a few years since I installed any pipe bollards but from what I remember we used 8' or longer pipes. We generally installed them in parking lots to protect transformers, loading docks, etc. The 6' should be fine for what you are doing, although I don't know how long of an area you are blocking off or what size chain you are using(3/8?). Definitely set all 36" in concrete. I don't know what the laws are in your area, but I wouldn't put it on the ROW, make sure it's on your property.
You may want to consider one of those fake cameras placed in a conspicuous location also.


Jeff

[YM-135trac]

Sounds like a pain w/the chain thing? gota get out auto unhook-rehook chain?

As to lessons learned? I read about when ussr&argentina economy colapsed & every piece of metal in the countyside, in use or not was fair game-They used concrete to substitute. Is that what lessons your talking about?

[LarryD]

Not much to it really, build a collar out of wood so you can put kickers to keep it plumb.

If you're going to fill it with concrete, I have seen a trick using heavy plastic to "buff" the dome shape once it's ready to finish.

[Vic_N]

Jeff, my driveway is 10' wide so the chain will be around 12' long. Pipe will be on my property. I'm thinking about real cameras as a next step. Lots of things are sprouting legs around here lately, if you know what I mean.

YM, yes, the hook-unhook will be a nuisance but I need to do this project on the cheap since I've had so many other unplanned "opportunities" so far in 2008. I hope things don't get that bad here but as the economy has worsened the crime rate here has significantly increased.

Larry, Iｴve not seen that trick. Can you explain?


Thanks for your feedback.

[YM-135trac]

If you want to do it cheap use pvc pipe&sack concrete? just fill pipe w/concrete& round top like your pic shows? camera$ can be defeated w/$.10 .22 bullet. Maybe hide cameras? If they want what you got they gona take it. Crime geting bad everywhere. I pray for events in this country to stop mirroring historic argentina past events&somehow change?,but.... good luck

[ksimolo]

Something to consider: Make the pipes removable - maybe sleeve one inside the other with the upper one going over the lower one. That way, if you need to remove the pipes to bring in something large (extra wide bulldozer, for example), you can. A bar with one large end could go through both pipes with a padlock securing the other end. Or bury the connection 12" below grade and no one will even know it is there. Digging down that far would not be too bad for the few times you would need to do so.

Ken

[tommu56]

Vic_N

Iv'e put alot of them I at work we mostly use 6" but you dont have to fill them all the way just about 1' above grade that is were all the stress is.

I agree about making one removable get pipes that are a slip fit and weld a pipe across through the center with open ends to put a sling through about 1' from the top then fill it solid (so it cant be lifter up)

tommu

[woodlandfarms]

I am a real fan of a camera, and yes, as technology, it can fail. but you have to be kidding me on the it just takes a 22 caliber to disable it. First, you will see the person who shot it out, second, the recorder is hidden on your property. Finally, not a lot of thiefs really think the camera through.

We caught a guy last year taking some gear...

Carl

[RonMar]

You put the fake camera where they can see it and defeat it You put the real camera where they can't...

We had chains up in one place I worked, and what we did for the raising and lowering was a hinged piece of pipe with a latch. The pipe was the same length as the above ground post/bollard and the hinge point was at ground level. The chain was welded to the top end of the hinged pipe, and to the top of the opposite bollard. You had a longer piece of pipe that you slid into the hinged part to use as a lever to raise and lower the chain. To raise the chain, you inserted the lever, and lifted the pipe up till it engaged the latch at the top and held the chain tight. Then you inserted the lock pin and padlock into a security box. this was across a 20' drive and even with a lever, that chain was a workout to get to latch/unlatch. The hinged pipe allowed the chain to lay on the ground for most of it's length and we drove back and forth across it.

I think though, that if I was going to the trouble of sinking bollards, it would be a very small extra step to make a hinged pipe gate, especially across a 10' driveway. This would be much easier to open and close for you, and easilly just as secure as a chain. I know in the application that I described above, 2 pipes that swung and met and locked in the middle would have been a lot easier to deal with than that heavy chain...

Good Luck