Height Restriction Barriers
Height restriction barriers stop oversized vehicles from entering areas they cannot clear, such as parking lots, jobsites and pedestrian zones. The range covers a permanent steel barrier for garages, staff lots and service roads, and portable goalposts with steel or water-filled ballast bases, a solid crossbar or bunting, and a cantilever arm for routes with room for only one pole. The goalposts are listed as compliant with US DOT and OSHA requirements and mark overhead hazards such as power lines and crane zones. Their telescopic poles come in red and white or blue and white for mobile and temporary work.
Permanent and portable height restriction barriers
The range divides into permanent barriers that control which vehicles can enter, and portable barriers that warn drivers and crews of a hazard overhead on temporary work.
Permanent steel height barriers
The steel height restriction barrier is fixed access control for entrances that stay restricted for months or years, such as underground garages, staff parking and service roads. It stands across the entrance as a physical limit, so a vehicle taller than the clearance cannot pass without striking the bar. It is made in standard or heavy-duty steel box section to the clearance the site specifies. Choose it when the aim is to keep tall vehicles out of an area for good and the entrance will not move.
Portable goalpost height barriers
Portable goalpost height barriers are two telescopic poles, extending to 24 ft, joined by a solid crossbar or a line of bunting and set on freestanding bases. They mark the safe working height beneath overhead power lines, crane zones and bridge entries, and they move with the crew when the work moves. Choose goalposts when the hazard is overhead, the job is temporary and the barrier has to go up without excavation or concrete.
Cantilever arm height barriers
A cantilever arm height barrier uses one telescopic pole with a horizontal arm in place of a full goalpost. It suits routes where only one side can take a pole, such as a haul road with a ditch, wall, embankment or live lane along the other edge. It marks the same overhead hazard from a single base, so it also fits narrow access points where a second base would block the route.
Height barriers for parking garages and jobsites
Parking garages and staff parking lots
Underground garages and gated staff lots take the permanent steel barrier at the entrance, positioned where a driver who cannot clear the bar still has room to turn around, ahead of the ramp or gate and not at the first low beam inside. The barrier controls height only, so where cars also need to be stopped and admitted at the same entrance, it is paired with parking lot entrance barriers.
Service roads, loading areas and industrial depots
On service roads, at the back of retail and commercial buildings and at industrial depots, a permanent barrier keeps delivery trucks and high-sided vans away from canopies, low doorways, pipe racks and other sensitive infrastructure. These entrances rarely change, so a fixed steel frame suits them, and the barrier belongs at the turn-off from the main road, where a driver who is too tall can still take another route.
Overhead power lines and utility corridors
Where a haul road or work area passes beneath overhead power lines, goalposts go on each side of the crossing point, so equipment approaching from either direction meets the crossbar before it reaches the line. The crossbar is set below the line with a margin, and a raised boom, dump body or excavator arm then touches the barrier and not the cable. Utility corridors, telecom work and live cable worksites use the same layout, and the barriers stay in place for as long as the overhead hazard does.
Crane sites and bridge entries
Around crane hazard zones, goalposts set the height limit for trucks and mobile equipment on the routes that pass near the crane. At bridge entries they give drivers a warning at the height of the structure ahead, before the vehicle reaches it. Both layouts shift as the job progresses, so the barriers are broken down and set up again at each new position.
Rail work
Rail contractors place goalposts at road-rail access points and wherever machines cross beneath overhead line equipment, and use the cantilever arm beside the track, where only one pole can stand clear of the route. Rail sites expect their own color scheme, set out under visibility and color below.
Overhead clearance bar height, span and ballast
Clearance height
The clearance comes from the lowest overhead obstruction on the route, which in a garage is often a pipe, sprinkler line, duct, light fixture or sign and not the slab itself, and the bar is set below that point with a margin. Measure along the approach as well as at the entrance, because a ramp or change in slope alters how much room a vehicle has. On jobsites, the telescopic goalpost poles let you set the crossbar to the height the overhead hazard requires.
Span: solid crossbar, bunting or cantilever arm
A solid telescopic crossbar spans a defined gateway up to 25 ft and gives drivers a rigid line they cannot mistake. Bunting covers wide openings up to 82 ft, such as a broad haul road or a utility corridor that a crossbar would not reach.
Base and ballast
Goalposts and the cantilever arm stand on freestanding bases, so nothing is drilled or anchored. A steel base is light and quick to set out for short jobs. A water-filled polyethylene ballast block adds weight on finished surfaces, such as asphalt, concrete or a parking lot that cannot be drilled. For work under live cables, choose the water-filled goalpost ballast blocks, whose shell is non-conductive polyethylene.
Visibility and color
Red and white goalposts are the road work set and blue and white is the rail set, so order the colors the site expects. A solid crossbar presents a continuous bar to an approaching driver, while bunting moves in the wind and draws the eye across a wide opening. The steel barrier has a high-visibility finish. On approach roads, traffic cones and road barricades lead vehicles into the gateway so drivers line up under the crossbar and not beside it.
Popular Categories
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Frequently Asked Questions
The steel height restriction barrier can be made as a single or double leaf that opens, and it locks in the open or closed position with a latch and padlock. A site can then admit a fire truck, garbage truck or delivery truck taller than the posted clearance and keep the restriction in force the rest of the time. Portable goalposts are lowered or moved by the crew instead.
Portable goalposts are a warning: a raised boom, dump body or load that touches the crossbar or bunting tells the operator to stop before reaching the hazard above. They stand on freestanding bases and are not built to hold back a vehicle. Where tall vehicles must be kept out of an entrance for good, the permanent steel barrier is the product for the job.
Yes. The steel height restriction barrier can be supplied with optional custom signage, so the clearance and any site instructions sit on the bar drivers are already looking at. Matching signs on the approach give drivers of tall vehicles the chance to turn away before they reach the entrance.
Yes. The goalposts are listed as reusable across projects: the telescopic poles retract, the crossbar or bunting comes down, and the water-filled ballast blocks stack for transport to the next site. Inspect the poles, crossbar and bunting between jobs and replace any damaged part before the next setup.
No. A hanging clearance bar is a light bar suspended on chains at a garage or drive-thru entrance, and it swings away when a vehicle touches it, so its only job is to warn the driver. A height barrier is a framed structure on its own posts or bases, either a permanent steel barrier that restricts access or a portable goalpost set that marks an overhead hazard on a jobsite.