A quiet residential street, a house behind hedges and old trees, in front of it a wide driveway of small granite setts. For a long time it was just as peaceful as it sounds. Then every year there were more parcels – and with them more delivery vans. Because the street has no turning point, the family's wide driveway became the regular spot for every parcel service in the neighbourhood to turn round. Morning, midday, evening: engine running, reverse, turn, off again. After dark, the headlights shone straight into the living rooms.
Three bollards, one clear signal: even at night, the red LED ring shows every driver that this is no place to turn.
Why not a gate?
The driveway is wide, and the property boundary runs openly between the hedge and natural stones. A gate would have required continuous fencing and would have closed off the open, mature grounds. Then there is everyday life: anyone who drives in and out several times a day does not want to wait each time for a wide gate leaf to swing open. And experience shows that “No turning” signs do not impress a parcel driver under time pressure.
Three bollards across the full width
The family had us draw up a concept that convinced them straight away: three retractable bollards made of V4A stainless steel (1.4571), evenly spaced across the driveway. The spacing is chosen so that, when raised, no vehicle can get through – not even a narrow van. Pedestrians and bicycles still get through, so the parcel courier can walk to the door as usual. When lowered, only the stainless steel lids lie flush in the granite paving, and the driveway is as wide as before.
Open and closed at the push of a button
The family operates the bollards with a radio transmitter from the car: press the button, all three lower within a few seconds, you drive over them, and then they rise again. Nobody has to get out. The red LED ring in the bollard head makes the barrier unmistakably visible in the dark – for strangers, who should not even turn in, and for the residents themselves.
Compressed air instead of a motor in the ground
Our bollards work pneumatically. The bollard contains only a stainless steel cylinder; the compressor and valves stand dry in the house. There is no motor and no electronics in the ground that could be exposed to rain, road salt or frost. The bollards are sealed to IP69, the seals are designed for down to −35 °C, and the system needs neither a heater nor a drain. It is very low-maintenance.
When raised, each bollard locks mechanically at the top and cannot be pushed down – not even if someone cuts the air hose. The bollards are manufactured in-house at our site in Seevetal near Hamburg.
The result: peace and quiet – and theft protection as a bonus
Since the installation, peace has returned to the driveway. No more engines running outside the window, no headlights in the living room, no reversing over the paving. And as a side effect, effective protection against car theft has been created: the family's vehicles stand behind three locked stainless steel bollards at night. Anyone who wants to move a car out of this driveway must first lower the bollards – and that is only possible with the radio transmitter. For data protection reasons, we do not name the location or the customer.
Has your driveway also become a turning area?
We have described similar cases here:
- An end to the supplier turning area on a hillside
- Turning circle outside the door – three bollards protect the granite paving
- Four bollards against unauthorised parking and car theft
You can read how bollards protect vehicles against theft on the page Vehicle theft protection. Send us a photo of your driveway via WhatsApp to +49 172 4544485 or call us on +49 40 226390411. We will tell you how many bollards you need, where they should stand and which control system fits. You will find all models and prices in the overview retractable bollards made of stainless steel V4A.
