Vehicle barriers

7 March 2005

Intelligent Perimeter Systems (IPS), a US manufacturer of vehicle barrier and traffic control systems, has installed an innovative perimeter security system at an undisclosed US Bureau of Reclamation dam in the western US.

Designed to stop a 30,000-pound vehicle travelling at 50 mph, the retractable steel posts (bollards) are installed underground in sets of three or four, with the top of each post flush with the roadway.

At the push of a button, the swipe of an access card, or a signal from a radio controller or satellite, the 1,400-pound bollards spring upright, reaching their full height of 36 inches in 6 seconds or less.

Each bollard has self-contained hydraulic pumps and integrated battery backup. A fully redundant design with no single point of failure ensures that the system works even if one barrier fails.

"Our solar-powered Model 400 barriers, combined with a custom monitoring system that permits authorised personnel to monitor the status of the barriers in real-time, created an ideal perimeter security system for this unmanned location," said IPS CEO Ronald E. Scherer.