Concrete bollards protecting a sidewalk. Notice how the cement is painted the same color as the building, another option available with concrete bollards

By Gerald Dlubala

Bollards as protective devices have been used going back to the late 1700s, when the first ones were crafted using everything from heavy tree trunks to old, vertically planted cannon barrels to the modern concrete bollards used today.

As they have become more sophisticated, modernized, and more skillfully manufactured, concrete bollards are now more personalized and aesthetically appealing.

And even though bollards are used as barriers to keep pedestrians safe from vehicular traffic, they have become just as important in keeping motor vehicles out of specific

Parking bollards in a downtown setting

People see them every day. Few probably know what they are. But these often overlooked traffic-controlling devices have an incredibly long history of stopping vehicles, steering pedestrians and saving lives. They are called bollards.

Parking bollards (also known as traffic control bollards) are basically those unassuming posts you see sticking out of the ground in various locations - on streets, on crosswalks, in front of stores, government offices, schools and other structures. They quietly direct people and drivers in the direction that planners want them to go...or not go.

Bollards come in all shapes and sizes. Most are pole-like and stand a few feet tall. Some are tall, like the ones you see in front of Best Buy. Some are squat like you might see in front of a courthouse. Others are thick in circumference,