Nasatka Steel Plate Wedge Barrier
In previous articles I wrote about the many means used here in the U.S. and offered by ECI to prevent vehicles from unauthorized perimeter access. In 2017 I wrote about crash gates and wedge vehicle barriers as well as the gate operators used to control them. These are perimeter security means to stop vehicles from entering and exiting restricted business and other high security locations.
Earlier this year I wrote about guard booths and barrier gates at Tootsie Roll In Chicago. These enhancements to the perimeter security measures at the employee parking facility allows management control over parking issues they were previously experiencing.
In 2018 I wrote about anti-terrorist security bollards for the Social Security Administration. I also wrote about how a vehicle wedge barrier system prevented a vehicle intrusion at our White House in D.C.
Just recently I wrote about the 2016 Nice lorry attack where a vehicle was used as a terrorist weapon. The products available now to counter hostile vehicles include bollards, fences, gates, street furniture, rising arm barriers, road blockers, longitudinal barriers and pedestrian portals.
I was again exploring the Internet (via my friend Google again) and found it amusing that street furniture is used as a anti-terrorism means to prevent hostile vehicle attacks in Britain. Initially I pictured streets of Chicago lined with assorted chairs, tables and old TVs ready to stop an attack by a terrorist vehicle. (Just how long that furniture would remain in place in Chicago is probably timed in minutes.)
After some further research I found a quote in Wikipedia. It seems street furniture is “a collective term (used in the United Kingdom, Australia and Canada) for objects and pieces of equipment installed along streets and roads for various purposes. It includes benches, traffic barriers, bollards…and waste receptacles. The design and placement of furniture takes into account aesthetics, visual identity, function, pedestrian mobility and road safety.”
Note: For those of you growing up in Chicago you may recall furniture (i.e. now folding aluminum chairs) and brooms being placed in shoveled out parking spots along the curb to mark one’s unofficial ‘territory’ following a snow storm.
Speaking of curbs, in the UK they have kerbs (pronounced the same as our curbs) but spelled differently. The British kerbs are security devices that ensure unwanted vehicles maintain a safe distance from buildings and staff. In short, they are perimeter vehicle security wedge barriers. As in the U.S. some are designed for heavy traffic, others for light traffic, with manual or automatic controls. They are ‘rise and fall’ kerbs – another whimsical British expression for raised and lowered!
Visit our Vehicle Access Control Systems page to learn more or contact ECI at 847.949.0134. You may also click below for direct contact information.
