Bollard Installation Cost
—> A quick note on In-Ground vs Base Plate Bollards
This page is mainly for In-Ground Bollard Installation Cost. Base Plate Bollard Installation is much more straightforward and comes down mostly to the cost of the Bollards and Anchors.
—> Also check out this Installation Guide
Question: How Much Does In-Ground Bollard Installation Cost?
Short Answer: 6″ Parking Bollards Installed Cost is about $700 to $1,200 each
In-Ground Steel Parking Bollard Installation Cost Estimate
Here, we are lay out the costs associated with the installation of quantity 20 of the most common steel bollards in an existing asphalt parking lot. We hope this transparency will help you understand why bollard installation cost is what it is. By adding up these costs, we will arrive at a rough estimate that should be useful to you if you are planning such a project. The estimate will be somewhat scalable if you are in the same arena. So, say you have 15 or 25 bollards, then you might take the total and multiply it by .75 or 1.2, respectively. If you only have a few bollards, the estimate is not scalable, because some costs don’t scale, like less of a price break on steel and Sonotube, concrete truck minimums, setup time, equipment hours and laborers having less to do overall.
Bobcat T550 with 18-inch Auger Bit
Bollard Installation Specifications
- 6″ Schedule 40 Steel Pipe, Quantity 20
- Each pipe is 96″ long, with 48″ above grade and 48″ below grade in footing.
- Concrete is at least 3500 psi and fills pipe and footing.
- Concrete Footing has an 18″ diameter and goes 48″ deep.
- At grade, a 24″ x 24″ square is cut out of asphalt or concrete to allow installation.
- Footing: Cardboard form (Sonotube) is not generally needed. Pier footing is more stable with irregular walls rather than backfilled around smooth form.
- At top of bollard, concrete is rounded out to a dome shape.
- At grade, the concrete square is floated and broom brushed.
Steel Pipe Cost
6″ Schedule 40 Bare Steel Pipe 96″ long and delivered costs about $220
⇒20 Bollard Pipes: $4,000.
Optional Concrete Form
We use carboard “Sonotube” forms sometimes because they help the person who’s augering know they’ve dug the right depth hole, and sometimes they’re just prescibed. But the argument can be made that without them, the footing ties right into the dirt which makes it sturdier. With quantity 20, medium to heavy walled 18″ diameter Sonotube, cut to 42-44″ long, cost about $30-$35 each including sales tax.
⇒Concrete Forms: $0 – $700
Concrete Cost
This job has 20 bollards and each one takes nearly 1/3 of a yard of concrete. Altogether, that’s almost 7 yards, so one concrete load could do it, but usually it makes much more sense to do two pours.
If the parking lot is currently being used by customers, then often it has to be poured in two passes, because the whole lot can’t be overtaken at once. Additionally, it can be tough for a crew to efficiently level (plumb) bollards and manage pour and keep up with the finishing the setting concrete, all while negotiating cone and barricade setup for customers milling about a lot. For this reason, in most cases, it is better to have a smaller crew do 2 days than one. In any case, the pours are a bit putzy, so the concrete truck charges overtime. Also, 4 yards or less incurs a small load fee and brings the concrete cost to about $200-$225 per yard including sales tax. And you want a little extra each time, so we’re doing 2 trucks at 4 yards each.
The concrete pour is the most critical phase. It must be done correctly the first time!
⇒Concrete: $1,600 – $1,800
Track Loader and Accessories Cost
Whether rented or owned, a track loader, skid steer or mini-excavator along with accessories cost money. We use our own equipment except we may rent if job is far out of town.
Typically, we use a Skid Loader, a breaker, an auger head with 18″ auger bit and pallet forks.
⇒Track Loader and Accessories: $1,000-$1,750
Traffic Control Barrel/Cone Rental
This is only needed when traffic control requirement is significant, for a job this size, we would rent 40 Traffic Barrels. Typical is $15 each per week plus delivery and taxes.
⇒Traffic Control: $0-$700
Other Materials Costs
Other materials costs are pretty self-explanatory but I’ll say a few things. Some items like haul-away may be handled by the main contractor. Ply and other materials may just be old stuff used from other jobs. Cutting the 20 squares out of asphalt costs a blade basically. Ram Board is a cardboard floor covering we place on asphalt around each bollard because concrete is messy. The 3/4″ Plywood is used to cover the open holes for safety, and as surface protection. We stock and reuse what we can, but about 4 sheets get ruined and tossed. The costs include taxes.
+Dirt/Asphalt/Debris Haul Away: $0-$400
+Asphalt Cutting Blade: $0-$225
+Ram Board: $0-$80
+Plywood: $0-$160
+Tarps/Poly: $0-$50
+Diesel for Track Loader: $100
+Gas for Generator, Asphalt Saw: $0-$30
⇒Other Materials: $100-$1,045
Labor Costs
A project this size is equivalent about equivalent to a 5 day job for 2 experienced workers at $500/day each = $5,000
⇒Labor: $5,000
Overhead
A portion of the company’s overhead has to be calculated into the cost for the project. In general, this is a rough estimate, but we figure this project accounts for about a 1/4 to 1/3 months overhead. This translates roughly to a portion of the liability insurance ($200), office/shop lease ($400), equipment purchases and financing ($400), advertising and website development ($50), office expenses ($50) etc. Not to mention health and vehicle insurance! (but we won’t add that here.)
⇒Overhead: $1,100
Total Project Costs
Here we total up all the project costs to our company and come up with a Total Cost Range we feel is accurate.
+Bollard Pipes: $4,000
+Concrete Forms: $0 – $700
+Concrete: $1,600 – $1,800
+Track Loader and Accessories: $1,000 – $1750
+Traffic Control: $0-$700
+Other Materials: $100-$1,045
+Salaries and Labor: $5,000
+Overhead: $1,100
⇒Total Project Costs: $12,800 – $15,095
Bollard Installation Estimate Range
The company needs to make a money in order to stay in business. There are many other costs for the business as a whole. Also, the company puts up all the money for materials and labor and is basically financing the operation. On a project like this, we would add 50%-75%. We take the Low Project Cost times 1.5 to arrive at the Low of the Estimate Range. Then we take the High Project Cost times 1.7 and to arrive at the High Project Range. These values together comprise the Estimate Range.
⇒Estimate Range: $17,700 – $25,500
⇒Estimate Range: $885-$1275 per bollard
From Estimate to Bid
Having taken the time to do a thorough estimate, we can now convert it easily into a bid with a few considerations.
Considerations
The number we arrive at depends on a number of things:
- How accurate do we feel our estimate is? Are there any wildcards?
- How efficiently can we execute this project?
- How busy or slow are we?
- How soon is the deadline?
- How short is work window?
- Is it near freezing, complicating digging, concrete pour and wet sawing?
- Is it a non-local installation?
- Is project site remote with extra charges for concrete truck or other materials deliveries?
- Have materials prices changed or are they different for the region?
Bollard Installation Cost
In this case, the bollard installation cost to the client is about $800 to $1275 per bollard as specified. Lower quantities will be higher per bollard while for higher quantities, you will see a price break. And, if the specifications are different, obviously this will change the cost too. For example, it the bollards were installed before paving, then no asphalt cutting and breaking would be required. Finally, higher quantities have savings. Hence, the cost per bollard might go as low as $700. And $1275 per bollard is unlikely, so let’s say $1200 max.
The per bollard bottom line is…
Bollard Installation Cost is $700 to $1,200
