If you’ve ever driven on an industrial plant site you most likely have noticed the speed limits on these sites is rather low, say 10 mph. However, some sites we have visited we have seen speed limits up in the 20 mph range. Now if there is no critical infrastructure in the area, we just look the other way and keep our mouths shut. But if we see speed limits over 10 mph right next to critical infrastructure such as pipe bridges, storage vessels, etc. we make a point to discuss an engineering concern.
I have written several posts about “bollards” and their specific design criteria and where they are required (based on state fire/hazmat codes), but there is one small detail that is often overlooked when installing these protective devices. When they are DESIGNED and installed PROPERLY, their design is ONLY to protect the infrastructure from a 12,000 pound vehicle traveling at 10 mph. So yes our PROPERLY DESIGNED and PROPERLY INSTALLED bollards have limitations and we need to MANAGE THESE LIMITATIONS by using administrative controls (I.e. Speed limit). So if we want higher speed limits than 10 mph around our critical Infrastructure then we will need to beef up our vehicle protection above and beyond the code designed bollards.
Source: Significant Changes to the 2015 IFC