Anti ram bollards are built and tested to stop a vehicle that is being driven at a target on purpose: a bakkie reversed into a shopfront at night, a car aimed at a crowd outside a stadium, a truck at a cash centre gate. A tested post comes with a crash rating that names the vehicle and the speed. Tell us the site, the threat and how a vehicle could approach, and we pass the request to independent suppliers and installers of crash-rated systems in your area. They quote you directly, at no cost to you.
How crash ratings work
Crash-rated bollards are tested to a standard such as ASTM F2656, PAS 68 or IWA 14-1. Under ASTM F2656, for example, an M30 rating means the system stopped a 6,800 kg truck at about 48 km/h. The rating applies only to the design that was tested, including its footing and spacing, installed to the maker's drawing. Change the footing depth, the gap or the post and you no longer have a rated system. Ask for the test reference and the installation drawing with every quote.
The footing is part of the rating
A rated post is usually set in a reinforced concrete foundation that is often a long beam linking several posts, so the load from a hit spreads into the ground. That means excavation, steel fixing and a pour, not a quick core drill. Where cables, pipes, fibre or a basement slab lie close below, some makers offer shallow foundation designs that are tested in their own right. Check services before anyone digs, and read our bollard installation page for what the site work involves.
Look at the approach, not only the line
The speed a vehicle can reach decides what it takes to stop it. A long straight road pointing at your entrance needs a higher rating than a tight corner in a car park. A hostile vehicle mitigation designer looks at every route in, then places the posts so the gaps are small enough to stop a car but still let people through, often about 1.2 m clear. Planters, benches and walls rated as barriers can close the ends.
After a ram raid
Shops, pharmacies, cellphone stores and ATMs that have been hit once are often hit again. A quick fix is a line of heavy security bollards in deep footings; a full fix is a rated system. Where delivery trucks must still get through, ask about rated retractable bollards. Ask your insurer what they expect, and get the old posts removed by the same contractor so nothing is left loose.
What to put in your request
- What happened or what you fear may happen
- The rating you need, if one is required
- How vehicles approach and from how far
- Known services, basements or slabs below
- Whether any opening must still let trucks in
Anti-Ram and Crash-Rated Bollards for homes, businesses and public spaces
- Homeowners: rarely needed at a house, though a front wall on a fast road may justify heavy posts
- Estates, complexes and body corporates: a rated line across a main gate approach where a straight road leads in
- Shops, malls and petrol stations: cellphone shops, pharmacies, jewellers and ATMs protected after a ram raid
- Offices, hotels and car parks: office forecourts and hotel entrances with rated posts in stainless covers
- Warehouses, factories and depots: cash centres, depots and plants with rated posts at gates and loading areas
- Municipalities and public spaces: pedestrian squares and event streets protected from hostile vehicles
- Schools, hospitals and campuses: embassies, courts, stadiums and hospitals with tested perimeter lines
- Contractors and event organisers: rated systems installed to the maker's drawing on a building or civil contract
Frequently asked questions
How deep do anti ram bollards need to go?
Is a thick steel post filled with concrete crash-rated?
Do crash-rated bollards look like fortress posts?
Will you design and install the system for me?
Anti-Ram and Crash-Rated Bollards by province and city
- Johannesburg
- Pretoria
- Centurion
- Midrand
- Sandton
- Randburg
- Roodepoort
- Krugersdorp
- Randfontein
- Germiston
- Boksburg
- Benoni
- Kempton Park
- Alberton
- Vanderbijlpark
- Vereeniging
- Durban
- Pinetown
- Pietermaritzburg
- Richards Bay
- Newcastle
- Ladysmith
- Gqeberha (Port Elizabeth)
- East London
- Kariega (Uitenhage)
- Mthatha
- Cape Town
- Bellville
- Paarl
- Stellenbosch
- George
- Worcester
- eMalahleni (Witbank)
- Middelburg
- Secunda
- Mbombela (Nelspruit)
- Rustenburg
- Brits
- Klerksdorp
- Potchefstroom
- Mahikeng
- Polokwane
- Tzaneen
- Kimberley
- Upington
- Bloemfontein
- Welkom
- Sasolburg