A bollard (aka "boles" or (French) "boulard") is a short, vertical post. Originally used mainly for mooring ships, bollards today have a number of functions. Among the earliest boles to be documented is the white marble Arch of Septimius Serverus in AD 203. Here, five of the structures are in place to protect the arch from damage by vehicles. It is unclear whether these were in place at the time the arch was constructed or whether they were installed later. Today, a bollard is likely to be set into the pavement in front of an expensive jewelry store to discourage would-be ram-raiders.
Another type of bollard is called a Dragon's tooth. This is a square, pyramidal bole made from reinforced concrete. The first recorded use of dragon's teeth was in the Siegfried Line in World War II. Their purpose was to retard the progress of tanks and gently guide them toward pre-designated "killing zones."
The area around Winchester Cathedral has a whimsical display of boulards used both functionally as well as decoratively. Designed primarily to keep vehicle traffic separate from pedestrians, a number of them have been painted with features from famous paintings. Here, Da Vinci's Mona Lisa joins adapted works of Mondrian, Lautrec, Klimt, Matisse and others.
Another type of bollard is called a bell. Sitting at the crossroads of sidewalks, they look like they have been dropped there to trip the unwary pedestrian. This is not the case. They are there actually to protect the pedestrian from being run over by a careless trucker driver.
Boles are frequently lit up from the inside to aid visibility to motorists and keep them on the right side of the street. One local resident in London got hold of a marker pen and drew flowers and butterflies on a nearby bollard. She drew inspiration from her home town of Brisbane, where the town council encouraged locals to decorate their signal boxes.
One of London's most elaborate bollard sculptures is located at Duke of York Square near Sloane Street. This is the Leapfrog Bollard, depicting a bollard circa 1819 with a little boy leapfrogging over it. Next to the boy, sitting atop a plinth, is a little girl. The total picture is called "Two Pupils, " and the plinth is etched with their story.
There is something about the mooring bollard with a perpendicular bar that seems to attract tourists with cameras. The purpose of the bar is to enable sailors to wind ropes around in a figure eight pattern when mooring a boat or a ship. Recent examples may be found in Marina of Izola, Lyme Regis and in the borough of Ghent in the principality of Wales.
The bollard is an inescapable part of urban life, at least in the United Kingdom. London is full of 'em. We trip over them. We back into them. We curse them and sometimes, we paint them. We wouldn't want to be without them. In a world with no boulards, more pedestrians would be struck by vehicles, cars would go the wrong way down one-way streets and sailors would not be able to make figure eight's with their ropes. Boles. Can't live with 'em, can't live without 'em. Long live the bollard!
Another type of bollard is called a Dragon's tooth. This is a square, pyramidal bole made from reinforced concrete. The first recorded use of dragon's teeth was in the Siegfried Line in World War II. Their purpose was to retard the progress of tanks and gently guide them toward pre-designated "killing zones."
The area around Winchester Cathedral has a whimsical display of boulards used both functionally as well as decoratively. Designed primarily to keep vehicle traffic separate from pedestrians, a number of them have been painted with features from famous paintings. Here, Da Vinci's Mona Lisa joins adapted works of Mondrian, Lautrec, Klimt, Matisse and others.
Another type of bollard is called a bell. Sitting at the crossroads of sidewalks, they look like they have been dropped there to trip the unwary pedestrian. This is not the case. They are there actually to protect the pedestrian from being run over by a careless trucker driver.
Boles are frequently lit up from the inside to aid visibility to motorists and keep them on the right side of the street. One local resident in London got hold of a marker pen and drew flowers and butterflies on a nearby bollard. She drew inspiration from her home town of Brisbane, where the town council encouraged locals to decorate their signal boxes.
One of London's most elaborate bollard sculptures is located at Duke of York Square near Sloane Street. This is the Leapfrog Bollard, depicting a bollard circa 1819 with a little boy leapfrogging over it. Next to the boy, sitting atop a plinth, is a little girl. The total picture is called "Two Pupils, " and the plinth is etched with their story.
There is something about the mooring bollard with a perpendicular bar that seems to attract tourists with cameras. The purpose of the bar is to enable sailors to wind ropes around in a figure eight pattern when mooring a boat or a ship. Recent examples may be found in Marina of Izola, Lyme Regis and in the borough of Ghent in the principality of Wales.
The bollard is an inescapable part of urban life, at least in the United Kingdom. London is full of 'em. We trip over them. We back into them. We curse them and sometimes, we paint them. We wouldn't want to be without them. In a world with no boulards, more pedestrians would be struck by vehicles, cars would go the wrong way down one-way streets and sailors would not be able to make figure eight's with their ropes. Boles. Can't live with 'em, can't live without 'em. Long live the bollard!
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