Makeshift Protection That Makes the Grade

Portable, towable barriers provide perimeter security for special events.
Published: November 24, 2012

Quite often, for perimeter security, vehicle access is required temporarily. Parking for the football game, a farmers’ market, political event and open houses are temporary events needing only a temporary solution. Fortunately, such equipment now exists in the form of portable, towable barriers.

These barriers can be deployed quickly and effectively, even in places where it’s impossible to excavate for a permanent foundation. For instance, Penn State University uses seven of these barriers for home football games and special events for vehicle control and protection. The university is able to quickly deploy these barriers at strategic sites around the facility. After the event, they are quickly knocked down and towed to another location.

Able to be deployed in 15 minutes, they can quickly protect facilities and people from vehicle attacks and accidents. These mobile crash barriers can be towed into position by a medium-sized pickup truck or equivalent and operate locally or remotely for guard protection. Deployment, retrieval and operation are all hydraulic. The barriers stop and disable a 15,000-pound vehicle moving at 30mph.

Once positioned, the mobile barricade is separated from its transporter and lowered into position by means of a battery-operated hydraulic power system, which is then used to raise or lower the barrier for normal or emergency tasks.

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It is often easy to convince campus stakeholders of the need fore temporary barriers. Unlike permanent barriers that need to be installed into the ground and are typically part of an organization’s real-estate budget, portable barriers come out of the security budget. Like most other security equipment, no installation is required. Plus, for one-time uses, some vendors offer lease plans.

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David Dickinson is Senior Vice President of Delta Scientific.

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Strategy & Planning Series
Strategy & Planning Series
Strategy & Planning Series
Strategy & Planning Series