HOW IT WORKS
Our Approach to SlowStop® Protective Guarding
SlowStop® Protective Guarding is a revolutionary impact protection system designed to prevent damage to infrastructures, vehicles, and equipment in high-traffic areas. Unlike traditional rigid barriers, SlowStop® features a patented rebounding technology that absorbs and dissipates impact energy, reducing repair costs and enhancing workplace safety.
To choose the right protective guarding solutions, our calculator helps you determine the amount of energy you are looking to absorb:
Of course, any guard structure can break given a hard enough impact, but if designed correctly, the likelihood is low. If it does occur, most likely you’ll merely need to replace the pipe, as it is designed to bend first. This can be done with common hand tools in just minutes! The product carries a two-year warranty against manufacturing defects and against breakage of the SlowStop base or modular connectors.
The simple answer is because it doesn’t cost less! It costs more, much more. Sure, you might not pay much for a simple piece of pipe but consider the other costs. Coring concrete is time-consuming and requires expensive equipment. It’s not flexible either, as it leaves a large hole in your infrastructure. Once it is hit, it either bends or cracks your concrete, leaving you with a headache to deal with and huge repair bills. That doesn’t even consider the damage to vehicles, loads, and potentially injured passengers. And rigid bolt down bollards? With limited stopping power, that’s just asking for concrete damage. Install a SlowStop® bollard one time and your headaches are over.
It’s possible to use a steel plate to prevent the elastomer from compressing the asphalt. But it will only be as strong as the asphalt will allow the anchors to hold. We use longer anchors and epoxy to help with that but realize that stopping power will be greatly reduced.
Yes, in many ways. Although we ship standard in safety yellow, many customers choose to paint their bollards custom colors or use our colored plastic bollard covers. We can also provide custom painted pipe, galvanized, or stainless steel, but it might take us a little more time and cost. At times, we also add retro-reflective sheeting to the bollards for enhanced visibility. We also offer elbows, tees, and cross connectors to create a variety of configurations. And because we use standard ANSI and ISO pipe sizes, it’s easy to create custom welded guarding, or add steel caps. Custom heights are available as well.
Yes, many of our manufacturing and distribution center customers use SlowStop bollards as a cushioned positive stop for precise loading and unloading, allowing their fork truck or dolly to slowly position themselves using the bollards.
Yes, simply unscrew the anchors, fill in the old holes (if you desire), and move to your new location. We do recommend gauging the threads on the anchors to ensure that they have not worn down. The manufacturer states that they can be re-used on average 10 times.
Yes, multiple bases work together to increase the energy absorption and stopping power. We’re conservative with our ratings, however, only consider one additional base because in the worst case it’s possible to hit the very end post and only really see assistance from a single other base.
We can help you to specify exactly what you’ll need for your project. We can provide drawings, and project quotations. For very large projects, we can work with you on delivery scheduling to ensure manufacturing capacity. Walk-throughs by our experts are also provided, as well as on-site training for installation crews.
Yes, SlowStop® is rated from -40°F to 150°F due to the special metals used in the design. Don’t be fooled by some all-plastic solutions that may become brittle in cold temperatures or require special formulations that can leave you with long lead times.
It depends on the height of the bollard, but for standard 42” bollards keep 13” clearance (310cm for a 100cm bollard). The simple rule of thumb is 1/3 x pipe height.
You can expect the bollards to last a lifetime assuming they aren’t destroyed in a crash (in which case, they likely did their job). The elastomer is protected from the elements and won’t wear out. Our steel pipe is galvanized and painted with a powder-coated UV resistant paint for excellent corrosion resistance. The base metal pieces are electro-coated then painted as well, for a C5I High corrosion resistance rating.
None that you wouldn’t provide to any steel pipe outdoors. Perhaps an occasional painting, or if you’d like, you could install our plastic bollard covers to eliminate painting. Periodic inspection to ensure that no parts have been compromised or loosen is prudent. See our maintenance guidelines.
Yes, but you need to shim the rubber elastomer as well with something that won’t deform such as a thick galvanized steel plate. The SlowStop system relies on the pre-compression of the elastomer to give it its strength. Ideally, the concrete under the base is reformed to be level. We also offer a specialized plumbing system so that you don’t need to level beneath the bollard. Contact us for this option as we need to add levelling set-screws.
Concrete curing depends on many factors, from mix to temperature and humidity, but in general it takes 3-7 days for concrete to reach 50% of final compression strength. After 2 weeks it will attain about 75%, and after a month about 90%. We’d prefer you to wait for full cure, however if circumstances don’t allow, you should wait as long as possible and definitely wait for at least 50% strength. Avoid impacting until fully cured.
