Shoe base poles have a square baseplate and are bolted directly to a foundation, bridge bracket, or retaining wall bracket. These poles will not break away when struck by a vehicle and should only be used in locations where they are not likely to be hit. Typical locations for shoe base poles are behind guard rails, outside the clear zone, or mounted on a bridge or retaining wall bracket.

Shoe base poles have a hand hole near the bottom of the pole for access to electrical connections. Even though the pole is not breakaway, the RID standards require a two-pole fused breakaway connector for the internal conductors that is accessible through the hand hole. This can be used to disconnect the luminaires from the circuit as needed during maintenance.