Guard rails, guardrails, railings or protective guarding, in general, are a boundary feature and may be a means to prevent or deter access to dangerous or off-limits areas while allowing light and visibility in a greater way than a fence. Common shapes are flat, rounded edge, and tubular in horizontal railings, whereas tetraform spear-headed or ball-finialled are most common in vertical railings around homes. Park and garden railings commonly in metalworking feature swirls, leaves, plate metal areas and/or motifs particularly on and beside gates.
Staircase railings in the Degré du roi, part of the Petit appartement du roi, in the Palace of Versailles, Versailles, France
Sign in Niagara Falls, Ontario, warning people not to climb over guard rail overlooking the Niagara River
A handrail leading along a rocky creek crossing
A crowd barrier (guard rail — North America) collapses at a college football game, spilling fans onto the sidelines.
A fence is a structure that encloses an area, typically outdoors, and is usually constructed from posts that are connected by boards, wire, rails or netting. A fence differs from a wall in not having a solid foundation along its whole length.
A wooden fence
During the Cold War, West German trains ran through East Germany. This 1977 view shows how East German authorities placed fences near the tracks to keep potential defectors at bay
Typical agricultural barbed wire fencing
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