Making Public Spaces Safer with Pilomat Temporary Barriers

With the arrival of the warmer season, Albano Sant'Alessandro, a town just a few kilometres from Bergamo, hosts a variety of public events, including festivals, fairs, live performances and concerts, attracting visitors from neighbouring municipalities and the city.

The largest events are usually held in Piazza Gli Alpini, a spacious, level public square located just a short walk from the historic town centre. Easily accessible from the main roads, the square features a single vehicular access point.

Among the events hosted each year is a Street Food Festival. For this occasion, security was entrusted to an innovative temporary barrier consisting of certified Hostile Vehicle Mitigation (HVM) products, designed to provide the highest level of protection against the risk of hostile vehicle intrusion

Designed and manufactured by Pilomat—headquartered in Grassobbio, near Bergamo, and one of the world's leading companies in vehicle access control systems as well as a market leader in automatic bollards—the temporary barrier was installed at the entrance to the square. Throughout the event, it supported security personnel in controlling authorised vehicle access while ensuring immediate entry for emergency vehicles whenever required.

The barrier consisted of two Road Blocker Mobile (RBM) platforms installed side by side, each equipped with manually operated movable blocking elements, together with an OktaBlock temporary security bollard positioned between the two platforms. This configuration is certified to withstand the impact of a 7.5-tonne truck travelling at 50 km/h.

Its operating principle is simple. The steel platform functions as a speed bump, naturally forcing approaching drivers to slow down before reaching the controlled access point without restricting pedestrian movement. When the movable blocking elements are raised, they create an effective physical barrier that prevents unauthorised vehicle access while also acting as a strong visual deterrent.

All components are modular and designed to create temporary barriers that can be configured to suit the layout of each site and its specific vehicular traffic management requirements.

Installation and removal are extremely fast—taking approximately 20 minutes for the standard configuration—and require neither civil works nor an electrical power supply. RBM simply rests on the ground without permanent anchoring, allowing it to be installed before an event and removed afterwards. At the same time, thanks to its utility model-protected anchoring system, the road blocker cannot be easily displaced, even if pushed by a vehicle. This performance is confirmed by the product's MK2 tamper resistance rating, allowing the barrier to remain installed throughout the event without continuous supervision, providing significant advantages in terms of both security and operating costs.

The result of more than 50 years of Pilomat's expertise in security solutions, Road Blocker Mobile and OktaBlock temporary security bollards provide the ideal solution for temporarily protecting sensitive areas against unauthorised vehicle access. In addition to safeguarding people against sudden vehicle incursions, they help ensure efficient and orderly vehicular traffic management.

RBM and OktaBlock can be purchased by municipalities, event organisers and other customers or supplied through dedicated rental solutions. This flexible and cost-effective option is particularly suitable for short-term events and is one of the reasons why the use of temporary mobile barriers is growing rapidly.

High-Performance Temporary Protection

Pilomat RBM (Road Blocker Mobile) is a drive-over platform designed to provide temporary protection for roads, public squares and outdoor event areas against hostile vehicle intrusion. Easily installed on virtually any road or pedestrian surface, it is manufactured entirely from steel.

Its versatile concept allows multiple complementary modules to be installed side by side, creating raised barriers of the required length. In addition to functioning as a speed bump (118 mm high), the manually operated movable blocking element can be raised to create an effective vehicle barrier with an overall height of 800 mm, preventing unauthorised access to the protected area.

RBM consists of modular platforms that can be configured with or without movable blocking elements, together with perimeter ramps that are also available in specially shaped versions designed to accommodate OktaBlock temporary security bollards, completing the barrier system.

The three-module version featuring one movable blocking element is certified according to IWA 14-1:2013 V/7200(N2A)/48/90 (K4, M30) and DIN SPEC 91414 – Displacement: 0.1 m / 0.0 m. The three-module version featuring two movable blocking elements is certified according to ISO 22343-1:2023 V/7200(N2A)/48/90.

OktaBlock is Pilomat's temporary security bollard designed to effectively protect road access points and entrances to outdoor public events without requiring civil works, ground anchors or electrical power.

Manufactured from steel filled with concrete, OktaBlock also provides an impact resistance of 750,000 J and is certified as a standalone product according to the international standards BSI PAS 68:2013 and IWA 14-1:2013 Crash Test Level N2 / N2A.