Marinelle Adams
Hosting up a big crowd can never go easy if you are not well prepared. If you are about to make way for an upcoming concert or a big gathering, setting up a barricade is a must. You must have seen various places around you being controlled by using barricades.
However, setting up a pedestrian barricade is not a very easy job. You need to have a considerable amount of information on the procedure of erecting those barriers without taking a lot of time. If you are short on time pedestrian barricade manufacturers like crowdcontrolcompany can help you find out exactly the type of barricade to purchase.
The barricades you erect should also be firm in their place so that a large amount of crowd doesn’t break through it easily. To make sure you do this the right way, follow a detailed guide that will teach you how to set up barricades the right way.
Read below to know more.
The physical set up
The first step is to physically place the barricades in the right position. Decide on to these positions by marking out where and how the crowd would be collected. You could also work according to the direction from which the crowd is most likely to exert a push.
- Step 1
Start with the design of your barricade. Although you will get a variety of options from the market that are pre-designed, you may have certain requirements that these options cannot help with. The best way to do so is to hire a queue management professional that will let guide you through the entire design process.
These professionals know exactly how and why a certain barricade would work. The accurate positions to place a barricade would also be provided by them only.
- Step 2
Decide the kind of barricade you need as per your design. There are several kinds of barricades available in the market. You could go for a metallic barricade or a material that is cheaper and more useful.
There are several categories in which the barricades have been divided. The categories are as per the usage you have in mind for them. Therefore, you can choose accordingly. Once you have made up your mind about the type, you can order it from a trusted dealer to the location it is needed in.
- Step 3
Start to set them together. Now the process of just keeping them next to each other till the end of the line may seem very simple at first. However, this is so not the case.
You must know that a pedestrian barricade is usually required to be put for a certain event just thirty to sixty minutes before. This doesn’t give you a lot of time to analyze and make decisions.
A good quality barricade, especially the metal ones, comes with a scope of several nuts as well as bolts on each side. This, in turn, takes up a lot of time and requires special skills.
Although, in this process, too, you could use several tips that experts of the barricade sector have to offer you.
Inserting the Feet
When you look closely at pedestrian barricades, you come to realize that we have a total of three types when it comes to the feet of a pedestrian barricade.
These types are, namely, flat feet, roller feet, and bridge feet. The types depend on the kind of set up you are looking for and, of course, the situation for which you need these barricades.
- Flat Feet
This type of feet is used when you have a flat or smooth terrain to deal with. As these surfaces don’t ring many difficulties, you can use a crowd control barricade that has a flat feel and stands normally. These barricades are usually set up in pedestrian walks, parking spaces, and roadways.
The best thing about this type of barricade is that it works great in connecting to the concrete ground and maintain a firm stand for a long while. Due to this, the chances of people tripping over reduces significantly, no matter how much crowd gets collected.
- Roller Feet
If you are thinking of holding up an even on a large scale, you can go for a roller feet pedestrian barricade. These events work great for outdoor events such as concerts, rallies, or even festival gatherings.
As large gatherings are usually very unpredictable, you should always go for barricades that are easy to reset. Roller feet crowd control barricades are easy to move from one place to another and therefore work best for such situations.
- Bridge Feet
Surfaces that are not that simple or straight can have bridge feet barricades. These barricades are usually set up for places like a golf course, parks, open grounds, or fair sites. This category has feet that look like a bridge.
Due to this shape, this bridge can connect barricades even in difficult terrains. This helps them stabilize the crowd even when the force from the other side is great.
Whenever you go barricade shopping, you will always find these categories of feet in your options list. The best thing about barricade feet is that you don’t have to stay stuck to the choice you made for the first time.
You can always select a new type of feet for your barricade and use it when required. Most of the pedestrian barricades available in the market have these feet detachable to make it easy for you to use them.
These feet can easily be slid into the barricades that too under a short amount of time. People who host several events of different kinds in a short span should keep all types of detachable feet in the store.
Add swing gates
When arranging a neat line of barricades that are functional and strong, there is another thing that you need to take care of. In case you have used metal barricades or something similar, you will notice how difficult it is to open them apart.
This could create an issue if you have a large gathering and somebody desperately needs to get out for any emergency. In such cases, it is essential to leave a gap between a few crowd control barricades and make the movement a bit easier.
You could either leave a gap or use swing gates that make the situation so much better. These gates are specially used for this purpose. They can be opened easily and can stay closed if they are not required.
This way, nobody would get to move out of the line without a valid reason or emergency. And when such a scenario arises, you just have to open the swing gates, and the crowd passes. This also helps you get inside the barricade if need be.
Once you have decided the exact spots where you can give a swing gate, you can decide on the size too. They are usually available in two sizes, one is the standard size in width, and the other one is a bit wider.
If you choose a swing gate that is of the standard size, it will allow people to pass through it, along with the workers, as well as officials. The ones with extra width can even allow dollies to pass through, or maybe some equipment. Small-sized machinery can also be passed through these barricades.
Extra-wide swing gates are also used for people coming in wheelchairs.
Figuring out the right size of a barricade
People often get confused about the size of barricade they should go for, in any event. Using barricades of a uniform length helps in storage and doesn’t take a lot of space during transportation.
If all the barricades are of equal length, you would be able to handle them easily as well. By using barricades of different lengths will also create balancing issues and make the entire process way slower.
For different lengths, you would also require to keep a plan of how the storage would be taken care of. However, when using the same lengths, you can stack them in whichever order you want to. You usually find pedestrian barricades of length 8feet, 7feet, or even 6 feet.
Choose the sizes or sizes that suit your situation the best. Barricades of different lengths are only recommended when there are space issues, or there are chances of space getting wasted.
Situations to use barricades for safety purposes
Barricading one of the best procedures that even police and other safety control forces rely on. Apart from the various gathering and social events that happen around us, there are several other situations where you can barricade for safety surety.
- Movement of large objects
When you have to move large objects such as trees, plants, or even some falling objects, you can use crowd control barricades that will not only keep your objects safe but also save people from getting hurt.
- Falling in excavations
Construction sites where the excavation process has just started should use pedestrian barricades to make sure no one falls into the pit. Manholes and another process that includes penetration should also make extensive use of barricades to keep people safe.
These barricades don’t have to be very strong as the ones used in festival concerts or big events. These barricades could simply be made out of plastic or other materials that signify ongoing maintenance construction.
- Hazardous activities
Testing of explosives and firecrackers, etc., can also be a very dangerous place for civilians to enter. This is another situation where barricades can be used for safety purposes.
Types of barricades you should know about
As has been mentioned above, all the barricades available in the market are categorized as per the type and usage.
- Type 1
These types of barricades can be folded and are easy to store. They have just one bar on top of their stand, which is made reflective to make it easy to come into notice. Roads that are required to have a speed check using this barricade.
They are usually found in semi-urban or low-density areas. They also channelize traffic for such areas.
- Type 2
These barricades work in the same way type 1 does, but this type has two bars on the stand instead of just one. Both the bars are made reflective and are used to control traffic coming at high speeds and channelize them.
- Type 3
This type has a barricade with three bars instead of two and works just the way type 2 does. They are used for even greater traffic controlling.
- Plastic barricade
These barricades are easy to transport from one place to another and provide a high level of visibility. This allows better control of the crowd during events.
- Steel barricade with an interlocking system
These are some of the strongest barricading systems that are used in festival concerts with a large audience that may get out of control after a while. Steel barricades can be stored with no struggle and can be managed well.
They suit great for channelizing a direction for a large number of people gathered in one small place.
- Plastic Jersey barrier
They last for a long while and are usually stabilized by putting sand or even water inside them. Commonly used for guiding vehicles running for long routes, they are easy to manage and maintain. They are made to reflect light and be covered with tape that shines in dim light.
- Barriers in airport
Another set of barricades that are used to alert pilots on airports are these. By using these barricades, the airport brings any ongoing construction or maintenance to the notice of the pilot or crew. It also helps them in parking the aircraft in the right spot.
Final Words
Barricades can be very useful for several situations where you need effective crowd controlling and safety. There are various types of barricades that are available in the market these days, and one should be quite careful while choosing the right one, especially for personal use.
Check out the steps and descriptions mentioned above to get a detailed insight into setting up barricades and making the right choice for your requirement.