A bollard is a sturdy, vertical post. The term referred to a post on a ship or quay used principally for mooring boats, but is now used to refer to posts installed to control road traffic and posts designed to prevent ram-raiding and vehicle-ramming attacks; the term is related to bole, meaning a tree trunk. The earliest citation given by the Oxford English Dictionary dates from 1844, although a reference in the Caledonian Mercury in 1817 describes bollards as huge posts. Simpler terms such as "post" appear to have been used; the Norman-French name boulard and Dutch bolder may be related. From the 17th and 18th centuries, old cannon were used as bollards on quaysides to help moor ships alongside; the cannon would be buried in the ground muzzle-first to half or two-thirds of their length, leaving the breech projecting above ground for attaching ropes. Such cannon can still be found. Bollards from the 19th century were purpose-made, but inherited a similar "cannon" shape. Wooden posts were used for basic traffic management from at least the beginning of the 18th century.

An early well-documented case is that of the "two oak-posts" set up next to the medieval Eleanor cross at Waltham Cross, Hertfordshire, in 1721, at the expense of the Society of Antiquaries of London, "to secure Waltham Cross from injury by Carriages". Similar posts can be seen in engravings. In the Netherlands, the Amsterdammertjes of Amsterdam were first erected in the 19th century, they became popular symbols of the city, but they are now being removed and replaced with elevated sidewalks. In the maritime contexts in which the term originates, a bollard is either a wooden or iron post found as a deck-fitting on a ship or boat, used to secure ropes for towing and other purposes; the Sailor's Word-Book of 1867 defines a bollard in a more specific context as "a thick piece of wood on the head of a whale-boat, round which the harpooner gives the line a turn, in order to veer it and check the animal's velocity". Bollards on ships, when arranged in pairs, may be referred to as "bitts". Mooring bollards are exactly cylindrical, but have a larger diameter near the top to discourage mooring warps from coming loose.

Single bollards sometimes include a cross rod to allow the mooring lines to be bent into a figure eight. Small mushroom-bollards are found on lock approaches for advancing boats waiting for lock access. A conventional measure of the pulling or towing power of a watercraft is known as bollard pull, is defined as the measured force exerted by a vessel under full power on a shore-mounted bollard through a tow-line. Bollards can be used either to control traffic intake size by limiting movements, or to control traffic speed by narrowing the available space. Israel's Transportation Research Institute found that putting bollards at highway exits to control traffic reduced accidents. Permanent bollards can be used for terrorist prevention purposes, they may be mounted near enough to each other that they block ordinary cars/trucks, for instance, but spaced enough to permit special-purpose vehicles and pedestrians to pass through. Bollards may be used to enclose car-free zones. Bollards and other street furniture can be used to control overspill parking onto sidewalks and verges.

Tall slim fluorescent red or orange plastic bollards with reflective tape and removable heavy rubber bases are used in road traffic control where traffic cones would be inappropriate due to their width and ease of movement. Referred to as "delineators", the bases are made from recycled rubber, can be glued to the road surface to resist movement following minor impacts from passing traffic; the term "T-top bollards" refers to the T-bar moulded into the top for tying tape. Bollards are regarded as an economical and safe delineation system for motorways and busy arterial roads. Traffic bollards used in the US are similar to devices found throughout the UK, with the following exceptions: The traffic bollard shell displays the MUTCD "Keep Right" symbol. In addition, the traffic bollard has a yellow diamond below the "Keep Right" symbol instead of a yellow shield. Unlike many existing traffic bollards found in the UK, most new modern traffic bollards installed along roadways today are made of materials that make them collapsible.

When struck by a vehicle at low or high speed, the traffic bollard shell reverts to its original position with minimal to no damage to the unit. Traffic bollards are used to highlight traffic islands, they are used at intersections within the splitter islands and at the ends of pedestrian refuge islands located at mid-block pedestrian crosswalks. Illuminated bollards are used to supplement street signs and street lighting to provide a visual cue to approaching drivers that an obstacle exists ahead during hours of darkness and during periods of low visibility: and to indicate that braking may be required. Illuminated bollards are used in Hong Kong, a former British colony. Internally illuminated traffic bollards have been in existence through

Scagliola is a technique for producing stucco columns and other architectural elements that resemble inlays in marble and semi-precious stones. The Scagliola technique came into fashion in 17th-century Tuscany as an effective substitute for costly marble inlays, the pietra dura works created for the Medici family in Florence; the use of scagliola declined in the 20th century. Scagliola is a composite substance made from selenite and natural pigments, imitating marble and other hard stones; the material may be veined with colors and applied to a core, or desired pattern may be carved into a prepared scagliola matrix. The pattern's indentations are filled with the colored, plaster-like scagliola composite, polished with flax oil for brightness, wax for protection; the combination of materials and technique provides a complex texture, richness of color not available in natural veined marbles. A comparable material is terrazzo. "Marmorino" is a synonym, but scagliola and terrazzo should not be confused with plaster of Paris, one ingredient.

Batches of pigmented plaster modified with animal glue are applied to molds and pre-plastered wall planes in a manner that mimics natural stone and marble. In one technique, veining is created by drawing strands of raw silk saturated in pigment through the plaster mix. Another technique involves trowelling on several layers of translucent renders and randomly cutting back to a previous layer to achieve colour differential similar to jasper; when dry, the damp surface was pumiced smooth buffed with a linen cloth impregnated with Tripoli and charcoal. Because the colours are integral to the plaster, the pattern is more resistant to scratching than with other techniques, such as painting on wood. There are two scagliola techniques: in traditional Bavarian scagliola coloured batches of plaster of Paris are worked to a stiff, dough-like consistency; the plaster is modified with the addition of animal glues such as hide glue. Marezzo scagliola or American scagliola is worked with the pigmented batches of plaster in a liquid state and relies on the use of Keene's cement, a unique gypsum plaster product in which plaster of Paris was steeped in alum or borate burned in a kiln and ground to a fine powder.

It is used without the addition of animal glues. Marezzo scagliola is called American scagliola because of its widespread use in the United States in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. Slabs of Marezzo scagliola may be used as table tops; when set, scagliola is hard enough to be turned on a lathe to form vases and finials. While there is evidence of scagliola decoration in ancient Roman architecture, scagliola decoration became popular in Italian Baroque buildings in the 17th century, was imitated throughout Europe until the 19th century. An early use of scagliola in England is in a fireplace at Ham House, brought from Italy along with the window sill in the reign of Charles II; this employs the use of a scagliola background, cut into to lay in the design. Superb altar frontals using this technique are to be found at the Certosa di Loro at Padula in the Campania, South West Italy. In 1761, a scagliolisto, Domenico Bartoli, from Livorno arrived in London and was employed by William Constable of Burton Constable in Yorkshire.

Here he produced two chimneypieces in white marble inlaid with the scagliola embellishments directly into cut matrices in the marble. Apart from the protective edges of altars at Padula this seems to be the first use of this technique. In 1766, he went into partnership with Johannes Richter from Dresden, who may have brought a young Pietro Bossi with him; the name Bossi, however, is associated with a family of Northern Italian scagliolisti. Bartoli supplied table tops to Ireland and one chimneypiece at Belvedere House in Dublin could be attributed to Richter, their styles are different. There is little evidence. Pietro Bossi though arrived in Dublin in 1784 and died there in 1798, he produced a number of chimneypieces in Dublin of good quality. Scagliola inlay proved to be desirable in Ireland and there appears to be a continuation long after it became unfashionable in England. In 1911, Herbert Cescinsky, in English Furniture remarked that scagliola had been popular in Dublin fifty years before.

This would explain one at 86, Stephen's Green an 18th. Century chimneypiece, embellished in the mid 19th. Century for Crofton Vanderleur at 4, Parnell Square. A firm, Sharpe & Emery, Pearce St. Dublin produce a number of examples in the neo-classical Bossi style, sometimes using original chimneypieces; the correspondence between British Resident in Florence Sir Horace Mann and Horace Walpole describes the process of obtaining a prized scagliola table top. Having received his first top from the Irishman Friar Ferdinando Henrico Hugford around 1740 Walpole had asked his friend Mann to acquire some more.... In a letter dated 26 November 1741 Mann writes to Walpole: Your scagliola table was near finished when behold the stone on which the stu

Marysville Township is a township in Wright County, United States. The population was 2,097 at the 2000 census. Marysville Township was organized in 1866; the 1891 Marysville Swedesburg Lutheran Church is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. According to the United States Census Bureau, the township has a total area of 33.9 square miles. Marysville Township is located in Township 119 North of the Arkansas Base Line and Range 26 West of the 5th Principal Meridian; as of the census of 2000, there were 2,097 people, 696 households, 556 families residing in the township. The population density was 64.4 people per square mile. There were 714 housing units at an average density of 21.9/sq mi. The racial makeup of the township was 98.00% White, 0.33% African American, 0.43% Native American, 0.14% Asian, 0.14% from other races, 0.95% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 1.96% of the population. There were 696 households out of which 40.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 67.1% were married couples living together, 6.6% had a female householder with no husband present, 20.0% were non-families.

14.2% of all households were made up of individuals and 3.0% had someone living alone, 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.96 and the average family size was 3.30. In the township the population was spread out with 30.6% under the age of 18, 7.2% from 18 to 24, 31.1% from 25 to 44, 23.6% from 45 to 64, 7.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 34 years. For every 100 females, there were 109.9 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 110.7 males. The median income for a household in the township was $53,011, the median income for a family was $57,768. Males had a median income of $36,935 versus $27,396 for females; the per capita income for the township was $21,171. About 5.7% of families and 9.5% of the population were below the poverty line, including 15.9% of those under age 18 and 6.6% of those age 65 or over