Automated Bollards for a Driveway

I think the cheapest way to go for electric remote operation would be a retractable chain gate....

https://www.drivewaychain.com/

I guess it all depends on the level of protection you need, and the level of aesthetic appeal desired...

I like these hydraulic driven with lights, heavy duty....but a little pricey...

Adding some sort of a sketch or two would help others help you. Hand drawn and scanned would be helpful. If you don't have a scanner then consider sketching with a fine tip black magic marker creates an image that can be photographed with a cell phone and posted. Pencil and ball point pen drawings usually don't work too well when cell phone photographed and posted.

I think I have a fundamental understanding of what you want but the ideas need refinement.

• I think I understand your "5 bollards 4 ft apart" but more than one idea pops into my mind so a sketch of your idea would help us.
• Any ideas on how you would like to implement "all welded together" but "one removable in case of damage"?
• Any plans yet on how all the pivot points will be constructed? Pivot point and drive linkage would probably be on the top of the thinking list.
• Any plans for counter weights to reduce the strain on the motor and drive train? A near perfect counter balance configuration would reduce your motor and drive train requirements considerably.
• Are you hoping to have the drive mechanism above or below ground level?
• Does the final installation need to be attractive?
• Are you planning on having hard mechanical stops so an impact stresses a hard point and not the drive mechanism?
• Have issues of safety, especially neighborhood child safety, been given proper consideration?

This project will not meet your financial requirements and be sturdy enough to drive into.

I've installed automated bollards as well as lifted chain.

Neither method is without issue.

Your budget would be better spent on a driveway alarm... maybe with an automated sprinkler to annoy parking enthusiasts.

Is your application intended to be totally un-manned, or what?

yes

OK, this won't look very pretty, but. Forget the concrete in the bollards just use five, three foot lengths of scaffold pole:-

You need two long strips of 3" x ¼" steel. Fix the first strip in one side of the trench; you could bury a few more short lengths of scaffold vertically in the ground to bolt the first plate to (Edit: put any ground anchors imediately to the right of posts to avoid interference with "closed poles").

Five bolts through the bottom plate and one side of^* the poles act as hinges. Same thing at the top to make four parallelograms.

* Don't put the bolts right through the poles they will intefere with the "other" plate when the gate is down. Or you could put spacers in.

End view of one pole, the plate s are shown thicker than they should be for clarity.

Go to a scrap yard and get a 12V windscreen wiper motor from the biggest vehicle you can find. Mount it on a 6 foot post to wind the cord at the right hand end. (You'll also need an AC to 12V power supply: they're pretty cheap.)

I've just put a bungy cord at the left hand end; it only needs to start pulling the gate down gravity will do the rest.

Actually, standard angle iron sections could be more affordable.

The lifting pole should be directly adjacent to the end of the linked assembly, so that the raised position of the connected end is directly vertically below the top of the lifting pole, not at an angle to it.

Given your very rainy conditions, Randall's approach in Post #5 may be better realized using plastic structural sections.

https://www.strongwell.com/products/structural-shapes-and-plate/

You may want something more (exotic) but plastic is all you may actually need to pay for...

Maybe something like this...

With a hydraulic actuator...

https://www.bifold.com/hydraulic-doors.php

https://www.servomagazine.com/magazine/article/July2016_Animatronics-Linear-Actuators-Servos

https://www.bifold.com/photo-of-the-day-schweiss-container.php

''Bollards'' on steroids?...

Why not include state-of-the-art electronic security equipment supported by geosyncronous satelite over-watch, while you're at it?...

Doesn't everybody have an unlimited budget for even the simplest projects?...

Well, he could just put up a sign....I guess

...can't get much cheaper than that...

thank you so far for the ideas, you guys are showing me a lot of plans for other type of systems. but nothing like I described above. this system should not be seen until the poles come up to stop people from entering the driveway. it's the first layer of protection, plus to keep people from pulling in and turning around in my drive. if they get past that point then they are faced with the main gate, which has cameras, and alarms systems on it, the side walls do fire water at a person as well as tear gas and has speakers out there to speak and order people away, plus a very loud alarm. I didn't mean to make it sound like I am broke, I just wasn't willing to pay that kind of money for something that I feel could be built a whole lot cheaper, plus do the job better with the weather here. I live in el valle de Anton, which is inside the footprint, stove pipe if you will of a old volcano. we have 3 seasons here, dry, wind, then rain, and when I say rain I mean everyday, sometimes you can't see your hand in front of your face for it. so a unground system like some of these would be ruined in no time here, due to the amount of rain we get. el valle is a huge tourist town, and I get a lot of people coming here to take photos, plus I live on the Main Street. I am putting in a new driveway and this one, will have two post, 8x8x10, where I am placing my lions.

this is the original lion that mine are casted from, found underwater on a island that sunk by Alexandria that guarded Cleopatra's compound on that island. mine are solid bonze around 6 ft tall and 8 feet long. when I had these sitting out front, I would look out and have a whole family sitting on their backs taking photos, so the whole area around the house is getting walled and a new driveway into it is being built, and these are going up on top so no one can touch them. plus the driveway bollards are to try to stop someone from just backing up and ripping them down to steal them. I have looked at the gator teeth tire rippers but I don't want to harm someone for just turning around and not reading the signs. so back to the problem, what I would like is one rod or chain, with a small motor, that pulls the bollards up and pushes them back down. the hinge design for that is what I am look for. I can weld a metal box, that they lay in, then they all are pulled by one rod and the hinges pull them up. they will have a stop once they get to the top, the hinge would have to work from the lowest point, in other words attach at the bottom, so that the rod would be below driveway level as well so to be able to drive across them and not see them while down.

You usually come out cheaper using something has been designed for that purpose rather than trying to adapt something to work from odd parts and fabricated pieces....Unless you have a machine shop with nothing to do and the skills necessary to design and build a mechanism that will work dependably, this just doesn't make a lot of sense to me...Why waste your time with an unproven system that will be trial and error for who knows how long....I don't think anybody here is going to design a system for free for you....especially when you might change your mind...too much time and effort goes into something like this...

I don't see how my design failed to meet any of those criteria, except perhaps the automatic stopping of the motor when the bollards are fully up or fully down.

It's way too weak! Any vehicle larger than a handicap scooter could bend those bolts and the 1/4" bars. It must withstand someone backing in to it, even accidentally.

Also, only the cable at the right can begin to lift the unit from the down position, but in the position shown, the right hand cable is very nearly perpendicular to the required direction of motion, so would not be able to lift that far. The left cable is never at a good angle for lifting.

The top and bottom bars need to be angle irons as a minimum, and the top one must extend well past the lifting pole for it to work.

Windscreen wiper motor. Ha!

Fill bollards with concrete per customer

"could bend those bolts and the 1/4" bars"

Let them bend them; this is $60 worth: it would cost more to re-touch the paint on their bumpers. If people really want to get past they'll find a way, but most people will avoid driving into scaffold poles.

It's legal to fire tear gas at people and tourists on the outside of your property?

Your request is over the top.

Solid bronze? You leave out too many details to be taken seriously.

With a compound like yours, I'd expect talent at the ready.

not firing it on them outside my property, even the bollards are on my property, and here it is legal to shoot and kill you if you are on my property, and you don't even have to be trying to break into my house, once the yard is fenced off, if you are inside that area you are fair game. what details did I leave out? pretty straight forward, poured concrete driveway with a side path ditch across it which bollards will lay in, which any type of car can drive over. all I was asking for was a design of a hinge system that could be inside that ditch, with a pull rod attached to a motor behind the wall at that level, hit the button and it pulls the rod which lifts all 5. JE I took your statement to be a little bit I'm B.S. so I took the liberty to take a few photos please note I wrote your JE on the page in the photo, wouldn't want you to think I photoshopped it. you can see the maids car for scale. this is the main driveway opening is 22ft from inside column to column, column is 10ft long, then the wall moves over 8ft and that wall goes towards the street another 26 ft. the main gate will be where those metal 2x4's are laying. I agree with eagle, it is easy to just buy something, but I didn't want to spend 15k on it and with the rain we get to have them all or one not work isn't worth it. I'll look around here and see if I can find someone local that can fab something that will work. I understand it's hard to fix a problem if you don't have all the info that your dealing with. all you guys have a blessed day. I will repost some photos whenever I get it all done.

I just don't see how someone could pull up and rip down some solid bronze lions?

The gate is another issue. If you have the budget to do the work? then say so.

If you balk at a $750 motor for an automated gate, I'm not thinking you have the resources to take on the project.

-The mechanical's of a gate the way you described seem very simple at the surface, but there is a lot that has to be just right for an automatic gate to operate safely and flawlessly for years to come.

Didn't mean to offend you in any way. Pimp compound you have there.

there are many reason I want all this, not only more protection for the lions but to keep cars from coming into my driveway and parking in front of the main gate, I am not balking at spending 750.00 for a main gate motor or one for the bollards, but it just seemed to be a high price to pay for a simple motor, the main gate will be installed by experts, they are building the gate to my design and specs. and they will hang in and set the motor up to run it. down here in Panama they know all about gates, but most have never even heard of a bollard. I do like solar eagle and your idea on the water raised type tho. you said The mechanical's of a gate the way you described seem very simple at the surface, but there is a lot that has to be just right for an automatic gate to operate safely and flawlessly for years to come.

With the main gate you are correct, that is why I am letting another party do it, but the simple design of the bollards was what I was talking about.

take a pen, lay in flat on your desk, then carve out below it till it is below your desk level, you can now drive over it and not touch it, then weld a henge on the bottom right side of it, grab the top of the pen on the left and stand it up. I would cut out a half cup so when it's up it would not be able to go any further, like solar eagle said, my first thought was to run a steel cable through holes drill into each bollard with a small washer plate on the left side of each hole, and run the cable to the motor, push it and it winds the cable and all pull up, my problem was how would you make them go back down. so I then thought of a solid rod, and some kind of way that would flex these up and back down. that was where I got stuck. the part where they would all come up at the same time and go back down at the same time and everything laid back into the ditch.

You can't have open gears and pulley's or hinges, dirt will get in and stop it from working....the system needs to be sealed....that's why I suggested a hydraulic lift at first....One hydraulic actuator in the center of a welded gate like you describe would work, or possibly two, one at each end....Like the floodgates picture I posted...

The major trouble with your concept of bollards that lay flat and lift up on a hinge is that when a vehicle hits that bollard, the hinge must take most of the force.

Assuming that you have the 3" pipe set so it is flush with the surface (it can't be much deeper, or you'd have liability problems with bicycles or feet falling into the ditch), then the center of the hinge must be 1.5" below the surface. Standard car bumpers are around 18" off the ground, so 18/3 gives the car a 6:1 lever mechanical advantage. Thus if the car exerts a force of 1000 lb (450 kgf) on the bollard, the bollard will exert roughly a 6000 lb (2700 kgf) force on the hinge.

The bollard needs to extend at least that 18" into the ground in order for the forces on the underground parts to be no larger than the forces exerted by the vehicle.

I really like SE's idea of the floating PVC bollards; they can extend well beyond 18" into the ground, and can be easily replaced when damaged. Remember that the length of the lifting pipe must be at least the exposed length plus the 18". Longer would be better.

One possible problem I see is that the bollards will tend to float up when it rains. You might find it wise to incorporate some form of latching mechanism to prevent them from lifting unexpectedly. That same latching mechanism could include a safety switch to prevent the pump from exerting excessive pressure while the bollards are latched.

Decades ago, I worked for a city that had a moderately large marble slab, on two marble supports, between two marble benches, as a picnic table-set, in one of the city parks.

Early one Monday morning, we were informed that someone(s) had stole the entire set, without leaving any obvious evidence.

Moral: If someone(s) wants it badly enough, given enough time, they will eventually find a way to take it...

Let me tell about the time we had a 20 ton A/C unit stolen off the roof of a 5 story building sometime in the middle of the night....and nobody saw or heard a thing...

Q.E.D.

weird.. I was just going to make a suggestion along those lines.

The reason the desired gate does not exist in nature are many.

floating bollards with top sections that can be replaced if damaged is the simplest way to go.

Probably could use a sprinkler pump 2.5 hp and a 2" line with 2 solenoids to reverse direction of water flow and 2 solenoid controlled check valves...controlled by float switches in the supply tank for auto stop and start and solenoid activation...

12" schedule 80 fits nicely into 14" schedule 40....you only need to come up about 24" and have 36" remain in the tube....so the schedule 40 would need to be 6' and the schedule 80 would be 5'....2" schedule 40 connecting all five bollards....about 70 gallons of water needed ...typical sprinkler pump 130 gpm, that would give ~30 sec to rise...

http://www.harrisonplastic.com/pvcschedule40-80specs.html#schpipedim

https://www.recsupply.com/pvc-solenoid-valve-1-1-2-inch-ii216bv50

I would probably fill the floaters with closed cell structural foam for added rigidity and buoyancy....

The best bollards that I have ever seen, and they were nearly indestructible, were retired Oxygen Gas cylinders. When an oxygen cylinder, or any other gas cylinder, won't pass hydrostatic testing, they become scrap metal. They are made of a good grade of steel. They don't burst in hydrostatic testing, just swell in diameter too much to pass the limits.

Interesting idea! I know they have fairly thick walls; do they float in water (so they can be float lifted)?

As I see it there are three problems here:-

The barrier to stop vehicle entry. Use the chain system as this can have the strong elements attached to the concrete pillars and will have a little give if touched by a car.

The security of the lions is probably a non starter. If I wanted those lions I'd either drag them to the front of the side walls and off onto a truck or turn up with a truck with a jib on it and reach over for them.

The tourist with cameras will still be able to step through or over your barrier to get the shot they want or use a long lens and stay outside.

PS. If security needs to be this harsh then I'm glad I live thousands of miles away.

Well it was really nice to hear what you think, worthless but nice. yes anything can be stolen, heck they could fly in with two choppers and attach them using a delta force team, and lift them. As far as security, I would rather over do it and never need it, then half asss it and depend on it.

PS. I'm glad you live thousands of miles away too.

Bollards can be lots of fun !!!

https://www.pinterest.com/pandas4me/bollard-art/

Railroad rail makes a strong bollard https://www.repurposedmaterialsinc.com/railroad-rail/

A pivot bollard with below grade one direction blocking should simplify hinge & drive design and be a substantial restraint for normal traffic. Perhaps construct from square structural tubing to make a smooth surface when retracted. A hole will appear below the inner bollards when the barrier is erected. The drive should be capable of handling the load on the inboard bollards when retracted, mechanical stop. No stop needed on drive at upper travel.

Looks like a good idea, as long as the main shaft is strong enough, with a bearing/support embedded in the (presumably concrete) on both sides of every bollard.

The main shaft wouldn't have to be that strong for stopping force, I assumed intermediate bearings that would need to have good axial support. But as you suggest, a strong main shaft would simplify the design considerably. The mechanical stop for the actuator could be a problem, I suppose a high torque worm drive would be the easiest way to provide suitable locking force...

The side of the pit stops the bollard from rotating beyond upright around the shaft axis, but the ONLY thing preventing the whole bollard from rotating further about the bottom end is a horizontal force exerted by the shaft. If the bollard extends the same distance into the pit as the bumper is above the shaft, then the horizontal shaft force required to stop a car will be twice whatever force the car exerts on the upper part of the bollard.

A small car could easily exert 1000 pounds of force on the bollard, so the shaft would have to exert a 2000 pound force on the bollard, and of course the bearings nearest that bollard would have to withstand that force and transfer it to the concrete.

Understanding these forces and torques is standard high-school level physics!

The entry (outer) side of the bollards is set into the driveway just low enough to make a flush driving surface. The inner bollard extension rotates down and hits a hard stop (ground), when the outer bollards rotate up.

This gives a substantial resistance to further motion, limited by the radial loading of the cross shaft pivot bearings, and their anchor bolts.

"This gives a substantial resistance to further motion, limited [ONLY] by the radial loading of the cross shaft pivot bearings, and their anchor bolts."

(My addition of ONLY).

Isn't that what I just said? Although you did make a positive addition by mentioning the anchor bolts. Those bolts, the bearings. and the shaft must all be able to withstand thousands of pounds of radial force. And of course the bollards themselves are considerably weakened by the shaft passing through them, unless there is some form of stiffening added near the shaft.

Yes, I didn't fully understand that you were restating what I posted earlier. If the pivot bearings were set in the concrete, then they would not need to be bolted to the concrete, need to dig a pit at the drive end for the gearbox, it will be special somewhat since clarifiers usually have vertical shafts.

I guess I would make the bollards one piece and weld up the cross-shafts between them, maybe a flange, or add bearings either side of each bollard, to minimize stress on cross-shaft...

I like your idea of square bollards welded to round shaft tubing sections. It would require some kind of fixture to hold the shaft sections concentric during welding, and and experienced welder, but the square bollards make welding it much easier than round ones.

The bearings/bushings need to be split, so they can be added after welding, and for removal for repair, and they need to be removable, not set directly in the concrete, again for repair.

One other detail: there needs to be some form of clutch or shear pin at the gearbox, so that damage to the bollards & shaft doesn't destroy the gearbox. Also, there needs to be an adequate drain, so the gearbox is not immersed in standing water when it rains.

Good idea to split the bushings, and I guess the blocks could be split horizontally without introducing much more corrosion surface area, and still keep the top bearing edge close to grade, to drive over it.

if the bearing pockets were reasonably well formed, I’d anticipate no attachment of anything other than gearbox to foundation, and for that, just the typical torque arm.

The whole assembly could be welded up, and fitted up in the field with shims, dropped in place.

Clarifier gearboxes typically are fitted with mechanical torque limiters, probably adequate for the event one of the bollards attempts to lift the back end of a truck. The limiter cuts the power to the drive motor.

What is the reason for the below grade on the front? offsetting the weight of these? even tho a motor designed for gates can move 5k pounds? could I remove the front and only use the back ones, that rise up and stop, then reverse back down below the concrete?

With a heavy enough cross shaft, that would be simpler yet, though it seems that idea was part of your original post?

The allowable static load (torque) on the final output of the gearbox would likely be the weak link in the design. The method to attach the cross shaft bearings to the concrete base can be optimized to provide restraint for the case of an incidental bumper strike, certainly much less than 500 lbs. before the driver gets concerned about damage to their vehicle. My idea using the bottom extensions converts that force on the bearings to a predictable direction, regardless of where the force appears on the upright bollards(?)

It took a while for me to think of a worm gear drive, that is the key to simplify the drive portion. Clarifier drive boxes have very high ratios, huge torque ratings, and slow enough to alert local traffic to impending operation.

Though since we’d be looking at 1200:1 to 1500:1 ratio gearbox, a brake motor 1.5hp will give plenty of stop force. Over torque could be taken care of with motor protection.

Scaffold pipe is good and you should look at Keyclamp™ fittings for assembling it together. The fittings lock onto the pipe using a grub screw so assembly, adjustment and any replacement of damaged parts is easy. There are lots of manufacturers of the fittings but if you google keyclamp you will know what you need to look for locally. Typically on the internet the fittings are $1.50 each. You need; 5 off Type 173 "single swivel" fittings that will become your hinges, 6 off Type 179 "locking collar" fittings, 5 to attach your top cross bar and 1 to attach the motor linkage to the end post, 5 Type 184 "end stops" to cap off the top of the bollards. For the top cross bar and motor linkage I suggest you use 20 x 5mm flat bar. a 4 foot length of scaffold tube is 5.2kg so 5 of them means that your motor has to move 26kg. A 12/24 volt DC window wiper motor does not have enough power but the 173 hinge fitting could be clamped 200mm from the bottom of the bollard and a length of 40mm steel bar inserted into the bottom end of the bollard and held with a grub screw to form a counterbalance weight. A wiper motor would then easily be powerful enough for your task. Counterbalancing would leave the top of the bollards at 925mm above ground which is the standard height for a handrail. For bollard foundations sink a piece of scaffold pole 400-500mm long into the base of the trench with the top 100mm below ground level. Drill two through holes near the base of this foundation pole and insert rod or long bolts through these holes to key the foundation pole into concrete. The 173 fitting does not swivel through a full 180^o so set the foundation at about 10^o from vertical leaning across the axis of the driveway. When the foundation concrete is fully set slide the socket of the 173 fitting onto the foundation pole and lock into place with the pivot pin 75mm below ground level. The edge of the bollard will then be flush with the ground surface when lying flat. Scaffold pole comes in standard lengths of 6.4m (20ft) but as you will be cutting it into short lengths, shorter sections which are more readily available second hand can be used. Drill the cross bar to coincide with the bollards or cut into lengths so that a section with a hole in each end spans a pair of bollards. Throw away the grub screw in the locking type 179 collar and replace with a short bolt that will both lock the collar to the top of the bollard and provide a pivot for the holes in the cross bar can swivel on as the gate lowers. The caps just knock into the end of top of the bollard post. Connect the motor linkage to the 200mm section below the pivot of the end bollard. At the motor end connect the linkage to an swing arm on the motor shaft. Clamping the linkage part way down the 200mm section allows you to match the motor swing arm length with the swing length of the counterbalance. Fit two limit switches (wired in series) that will trip the motor, one when the motor swing arm points towards the bollard (gate up) and one when it points away from the bollard (gate down). Press a button to start the motor, it moves off the current limit switch and latches the circuit until it reaches the next limit and stops in the opposite position. Pack the base of the trench to support the underside of the bollards as they lay flat to prevent any distortion as a car passes over. Fill the hex sockets of the grub screws with mastic to stop intruders from disassembling. You can always dig it out if you need to disassemble. Paint the finished gate with red and white or black and yellow bands.

It would be much easier to read if you broke that up into paragraphs of reasonable size!

Scaffold poles are intended to take lengthwise forces, not bending forces, and a small car could easily shear those pins and drive on through (although it would probably do some damage to the bottom of the car). OTOH, the ease of replacement and lack of need for welding might make it worthwhile.

Automated gates are far outside his budget so low cost is part of the brief. With that comes a compromise on the degree of security provided. Yes a small car could damage the gate but I am not surprised how reluctant Joe Public is to drive his or her car into a post or bollard given the cost of car repairs. Note I recommended painting in bright colors to alert said motorist to the presence of the barrier. Reflective stick on rectangles are also an option for deterring night time prangs. Pedestrians will climb over it or duck under it. The determined thief will shimmy over the wall at the back in the hours of darkness, steal an HGV and back it through the wall or hold you up at gun point and demand that you lower the barrier.

I want to thank all of you for your thoughts and ideas on the best way to do this. and for all of you taking the time and sharing your skills with me. I wanted to say that I am not looking for the cheapest way to do this, I just didn't like the prices that I saw on units already built, plus the shipping from there to here with 5 units would be really high, plus I just thought that there would be a cheaper and easier way to do them. the bollards to me have two reasons, one to keep people from turning around in my driveway, let me explain, I live in a tourist town, and I have a business down the street where cars come, pull in and back out, over a few years of them doing that, they have eaten away the top layer of my concrete turning their wheels while stopped, plus to keep people out of the main driveway, and it might also stop someone from trying to steal the lions. once you get pass the bollards, I have a main automatic gate as well.

Make sure they use better less wet concrete so the top layer doesn't get chewed up by twisting tires.

Good luck figuring out your next move.. many options to think about.

These are pretty cheap...$125 per meter...

https://www.alibaba.com/product-detail/aluminum-parking-lot-driveway-barrier-automatic_60840344083.html

I suspect that that price does not include the tractor unit.

Wouldn't be that hard to build, or adapt from something else....