A stanchion () is a sturdy upright fixture that provides support for some other object. It can be a permanent fixture.

Types

architecture Architecture is the art and technique of designing and building, as distinguished from the skills associated with construction. It is both the process and the product of sketching, conceiving, planning, designing, and construction, constructi ...

, stanchions are the upright iron bars in windows that pass through the eyes of the saddle bars or horizontal irons to steady the leadlight. The French call the latter ''traverses'', the stanchions ''montants'', and the whole arrangement ''armature''. Stanchions frequently finish with ornamental heads forged out of the iron. Stanchions are also the metal supporting members of

lighting Lighting or illumination is the deliberate use of light to achieve practical or aesthetic effects. Lighting includes the use of both artificial light sources like lamps and light fixtures, as well as natural illumination by capturing daylight. ...

mounted from a lower elevation. This includes the metal inclined member for mounting a streetlight to a telephone or power pole, and the dedicated metal vertical support of a self-supporting or bottom-fed streetlight. In this case, the stanchion pole may double as the raceway for the electrical feed to the lighting. In industrial installations, walkway lighting may be mounted with a stanchion that is secured to a hand-rail. Stanchion lights are typically spaced along walkways, such as conveyor platforms. Stanchions (

baluster A baluster () is an upright support, often a vertical moulded shaft, square, or lathe-turned form found in stairways, parapets, and other architectural features. In furniture construction it is known as a spindle. Common materials used in its ...

s or

bollard A bollard is a sturdy, short, vertical post. The term originally referred to a post on a ship or quay used principally for mooring boats. In modern usage, it also refers to posts installed to control road traffic and posts designed to pre ...

s) are also the upright posts inserted into the ground or floor to protect the corner of a wall. In event management a stanchion is an upright bar or post that includes retractable belts, velvet ropes, or plastic chains, sometimes in conjunction with wall-mounted barrier devices,

barricade Barricade (from the French ''barrique'' - 'barrel') is any object or structure that creates a barrier or obstacle to control, block passage or force the flow of traffic in the desired direction. Adopted as a military term, a barricade denotes ...

s, and printed

signage Signage is the design or use of signs and symbols to communicate a message. Signage also means signs ''collectively'' or being considered as a group. The term ''signage'' is documented to have been popularized in 1975 to 1980. Signs are any ki ...

and often used for

crowd control Crowd control is a public security practice in which large crowds are managed in order to prevent the outbreak of crowd crushes, affray, fights involving drunk and disorderly people or riots. Crowd crushes in particular can cause many hundre ...

and engineering people flow and construction site safety.

Uses

Stanchions are used for many different purposes, including crowd control and queues and waiting lines and management of large groups of people. Many different places use stanchions, including banks, building societies, and credit unions; stores, from larger department stores to trendy boutiques; hotels and conference centers; museums; restaurants and cafés; nightclubs and beach clubs; concert venues, sports arenas and stadiums; airports (including at check-in, security screening, gates, and immigration), train stations, ports, and other mass transport venues; government facilities such as the department of motor vehicles or courthouses; trade shows, art shows and comic conventions; art and opera festivals; and fairgrounds, circuses and other events. Notably stanchions are rarely used in domestic settings or in small businesses where such a marker is not warranted, such as rural cafes or microbreweries. * Portable posts used to manage lines and queues. ** Fixed posts with decorative ropes, custom printed belts, or metal wires. Often available in single, double, and triple belt/wire configurations. ** Retractable belt stanchions, often with heavy low-profile base to offset possible trip hazard and stanchion tipping, and often also with a slowly retracting spring-operated belt mechanism for safety. (Some have a "Universal Belt End", allowing for connectivity between multiple makes.) In

museum A museum is an institution dedicated to displaying or Preservation (library and archive), preserving culturally or scientifically significant objects. Many museums have exhibitions of these objects on public display, and some have private colle ...

s, such stanchions are used to protect items and remind visitors that they are not to be touched. * Around construction work sites, conspicuous markers of hazardous areas. Stanchions used for this purpose usually have bright safety colors, like orange or yellow, and often come with attachments for safety signs, warning passersby of the danger in the area. * Retracting belt barriers affixed to traffic cones with reflective print. * Vertical supports for chains or ropes, as in marine applications, such as those for lifelines on

yacht A yacht () is a sail- or marine propulsion, motor-propelled watercraft made for pleasure, cruising, or racing. There is no standard definition, though the term generally applies to vessels with a cabin intended for overnight use. To be termed a ...

s or

boat A boat is a watercraft of a large range of types and sizes, but generally smaller than a ship, which is distinguished by its larger size or capacity, its shape, or its ability to carry boats. Small boats are typically used on inland waterways s ...

s. ** Nautical stanchions * Metal mounts securing the

headrest Head restraints (also called headrests) are an automotive safety feature, attached or integrated into the top of each seat to limit the rearward movement of the adult occupant's head, relative to the torso, in a collision—to prevent or mitiga ...

to the seat in a car. * In

association football Association football, more commonly known as football or soccer, is a team sport played between two teams of 11 Football player, players who almost exclusively use their feet to propel a Ball (association football), ball around a rectangular f ...

and other goal-based sports, horizontal or diagonal extensions to the

goalpost In sport, a goal may refer to either an instance of scoring, or to the physical structure or area where an attacking team must send the ball or puck in order to score points. The structure of a goal varies from sport to sport, and one is pl ...

s that prevent the goalnet from drooping. * In

military aircraft A military aircraft is any Fixed-wing aircraft, fixed-wing or rotorcraft, rotary-wing aircraft that is operated by a legal or insurrectionary military of any type. Some military aircraft engage directly in aerial warfare, while others take on su ...

, vertical supports for troop seating temporarily installed in

cargo aircraft A cargo aircraft (also known as freight aircraft, freighter, airlifter or cargo jet) is a fixed-wing aircraft that is designed or converted for the carriage of cargo rather than passengers. Such aircraft generally feature one or more large door ...

. * On board most buses and trams/subways, vertical supports to provide stability when passengers are

standing Standing, also referred to as orthostasis, is a position in which the body is held in an upright (orthostatic) position and supported only by the feet. Although seemingly static, the body rocks slightly back and forth from the ankle in the ...

. They are located throughout most city buses and are connected to seats, floor, roof, etc. * The metal head bails in dairy barns that lock the cows in place while they are milked. * The two lower members of a suspension bicycle fork that connect to the crown (also called fork legs). * In river rafting, metal bars that hold the yokes for oars. * In

ice hockey Ice hockey (or simply hockey in North America) is a team sport played on ice skates, usually on an Ice rink, ice skating rink with Ice hockey rink, lines and markings specific to the sport. It belongs to a family of sports called hockey. Tw ...

, the posts used on the dasher boards to hold panes of glass in place. This is a common vernacular term in the sport, although in the industry they are simply called posts. * The upright part of the frame around a windscreen (the A pillar). * Stanchions to locate

fire hydrant A fire hydrant, fireplug, firecock (archaic), hydrant riser or Johnny Pump is a connection point by which firefighters can tap into a water supply. It is a component of active fire protection. Underground fire hydrants have been used in Europe a ...

s under deep snow. * In stores a stanchion supplied by a manufacturer can be placed on the counter to display their product, such as candy. Image:Stanchion (PSF).png, Stanchion File:Cupik kayak stanchions.jpg,

Cup'ik The Yupʼik or Yupiaq (sg & pl) and Yupiit or Yupiat (pl), also Central Alaskan Yupʼik, Central Yupʼik, Alaskan Yupʼik (Central Alaskan Yupʼik language, own name ''Yupʼik'' sg ''Yupiik'' dual ''Yupiit'' pl; Russian language, Russian: Юп� ...

kayak ] A kayak is a small, narrow human-powered watercraft typically propelled by means of a long, double-bladed paddle. The word ''kayak'' originates from the Inuktitut word '' qajaq'' (). In British English, the kayak is also considered to be ...

stanchions, collection of the University of Alaska Museum of the North Fire hydrant locator stanchion in Greater Montreal.jpg, Fire hydrant locator on Gouin Boulevard in Cartierville. Fire hydrant locator stanchion in Laval, Quebec.jpg, Fire hydrant locator in Laval

Transportation

* Removable and swivelling or fixed

metal A metal () is a material that, when polished or fractured, shows a lustrous appearance, and conducts electrical resistivity and conductivity, electricity and thermal conductivity, heat relatively well. These properties are all associated wit ...

wood Wood is a structural tissue/material found as xylem in the stems and roots of trees and other woody plants. It is an organic materiala natural composite of cellulosic fibers that are strong in tension and embedded in a matrix of lignin t ...

en stanchions in sockets at the edges of the flatbed of

flatcar A flatcar (US) (also flat car, or flatbed) is a piece of rolling stock that consists of an open, flat deck mounted on trucks (US) or bogies (UK) at each end. Occasionally, flat cars designed to carry extra heavy or extra large loads are mounted ...

s, flat wagons or the ends of the bolsters of a bogie bolster wagon., * Removable and swivelling metal or wooden stanchions in sockets at the edges of the flatbed of flatbed semi-trailers, flatbed trucks or

logging truck A logging truck or timber lorry is a large truck used to carry logs. Some have integrated flatbeds, some are discrete tractor units, and some are configured to spread a load between the tractor unit and a dollied trailer pulled behind it. Oft ...

s. In all cases the lower ends is shaped so as to hold it in place. * In British and Australian English the term is applied to the support structures for railway overhead power.

Gallery

File:2009-0607-bahnbild-by-RalfR-20.jpg, Special wagon with strong double stanchions for

timber Lumber is wood that has been processed into uniform and useful sizes (dimensional lumber), including beams and planks or boards. Lumber is mainly used for construction framing, as well as finishing (floors, wall panels, window frames). ...

haulage (Snps⁷¹⁹ owned by DB) File:SBB-Ks21853301545-3b.JPG, Flat wagons of Class Ks with standard dimensions and swivelling stanchions, loaded with Swiss containers

References

External links