The Importance of High-Security Road Blockers in Modern Urban Infrastructure
The modern world is one of fast-paced progress; of incredible achievements that are testament to human ingenuity and determination. Our modern world is also fragile, vulnerable against those who seek to tear down everything that we have built with painstaking effort for their own twisted reasons. We have to build our defences against these external forces to prevent them from destroying everything that we have created. So, when it comes to protecting our precious establishments, we have to deploy the most effective perimeter protection equipment that exists. And, when it comes to perimeter security, you cannot do much better than the high-security road blocker.
What are Road Blockers?
Road blockers are solid pieces of security equipment, usually placed at the entry and exit of those establishments that comprise modern urban infrastructure such as malls, airports, government buildings, hotels, hospitals, and more. They prevent the unauthorized entry of vehicles, commonly referred to as vehicle-borne attacks (VBA), by acting as a physical barrier between the vehicles and the establishment. They are manufactured with the specific intention of stopping even large, heavy, fast moving vehicles in their tracks.
Types of Road Blockers
Depending on the security requirements, road blockers come in various types such as permanent or fixed, retractable, and portable. Retractable road blockers can be further categorized according to the retraction technology used, such as hydraulic, pneumatic, etc. They can be surface-mounted, shallow mounted or deeply embedded, depending on the requirements and the site specifications. They can be operated either manually or via remote control, or both. They can also be categorized according to their crash ratings, which depend on a number of internationally specified parameters, such as the weight and speed of the vehicle, extent of displacement of the road blocker upon impact, and more.
Applications of Road Blockers
In an urban setting, a high-security road blocker finds applications across diverse establishments that require protection from vehicle-borne threats. These include:
- Government and military facilities: Establishments like government offices and residences, embassies, politically sensitive areas are highly prone to attacks from terrorists. Military facilities like cantonments, national/state borders, etc. are also vulnerable to attacks.
- Civilian establishments: Malls, hotels, hospitals, airports, ports, railway stations, rapid rail stations, bus depots, corporate offices, etc. are excellent places to install high-security road blockers.
- Vital infrastructure: Critical urban infrastructure such as water treatment plants and power stations need to be protected from saboteurs and arsonists as they serve entire cities with vital necessities.
Apart from these, highly sensitive establishments such as data centers, banks, stock exchanges, etc. also need to be protected from terrorist attacks. Moreover, temporary venues that require high security and access control such as political rallies, sporting events, and concerts also require ideal locations for road blockers.
Benefits of Road Blockers
Enhanced Security: Road blockers are unobtrusive, but highly effective perimeter security equipment that can prevent vehicle-borne terrorist attacks. In the case of shallow-mounted or deeply embedded road blockers, most visitors to a secure facility are often never even aware of their presence. However, at the smallest sign of a VBA, they can be deployed with high speed and to deadly effect.
Threat Mitigation: The very presence of a high-security road blocker acts as a deterrent to prospective attackers, who will have to think twice about storming a secure facility in a vehicle. They stand as silent sentinels at the vanguard of an establishment’s defences, ensuring the safety of its vulnerable charges. They are built to last, being always ‘on duty’, never tiring or appearing weak.
Access Control: Road blockers allow security personnel to monitor the entry or exits of visitors to a secure facility. They can be deployed in times of natural or man-made disasters to control both pedestrian and vehicular movement, preventing accidents and stampedes, and acting as temporary guides to panic-stricken people. During public events as well, they can help prevent people or vehicles from accessing restricted areas. They are also crucial access control equipment in border areas.
Traffic Control: Road blockers can be used to regulate the flow of traffic in restricted areas such as parliament buildings and armed forces cantonments. They can also be used as temporary diversions to monitor vehicle flow on public roads with high traffic flow or under-construction areas.
Versatility and Durability: Road blockers can be installed or deployed practically anywhere, making them highly versatile and flexible security equipment. As described earlier, they can be designed or customized for a variety of settings and applications. They are made of extremely durable materials like heavy-duty S275JR steel, making them moisture and corrosion resistant, and capable of withstanding wide variations in temperature (-15 °C to +65 °C).
Integrability: One of the stand out features of a high-security road blocker is its ability to be integrated seamlessly with other security equipment such as video cameras, alarm systems, access cards, sensors such as photo cell loop detectors, RFID systems, and many other security solutions. This enables security systems to be more effective and creates a comprehensive defence mechanism against threats and attacks.
Features and Specifications of High-security Road Blockers
As an example of a high tech high-security road blocker, we can consider leading perimeter security equipment manufacturer SAB TECH’s premier product, the RBXM1000CT hydraulic road blocker, which is PAS68 and IWA14-1 crash tested, with the equivalent highest international ratings corresponding to K12, M50, and ASTM F2656.
Built from heavy duty S275JR steel, sporting a checkered top steel plate of 10 mm thickness and a blocking width of 2000 to 6000 mm, this road blocker is capable of stopping a 16 ton truck hurtling at 80 kmph in its tracks!
Belying its size and weight, it can be raised to its maximum height of 1000 mm in an astounding 3 to 5 seconds under normal circumstances, and a lightning quick 1.5 seconds when fitted with an emergency fast opening system.
Fitted with a high output power pack of 4-7.5 kW, it is operated by a state-of-the-art control panel and control push buttons, though it can also be manually raised or lowered in case of power failure.
It can be customized with enhanced access control integrations compatibility, emergency buttons with lockdown, emergency DC motor, UPS backup, and accumulator systems for power failure situations.
All in all, SAB TECH’s high-security road blocker is a complete perimeter protection solution.
Conclusion
The importance of high-security road blockers for modern urban infrastructure cannot be overemphasized. The threat of VBAs is a grim reality that must be faced head-on, much as a high-security road blocker does. Road blockers are an essential component of urban infrastructure security solutions, and security management personnel need to liaise with top road blocker manufacturers like SAB TECH to ensure that they get the most technologically advanced security solutions for their establishments.
