Lom

Lom or LOM may refer to:

Ethnic group

Places

Surname

Other

Abbreviations

Lomé

Lomé, with a population of 837,437 (metro population 1,570,283), is the capital and largest city of Togo. Located on the Gulf of Guinea, Lomé is the country's administrative and industrial center and its chief port. The city exports coffee, cocoa, copra, and palm kernels. It also has an oil refinery.

History

The city was founded in the 18th century by the Ewe people.

The city's population grew rapidly in the second half of the 20th century. The city had approximately 30,000 inhabitants in 1950: by 1960 (the year Togo gained its independence from France) the population had reached 80,000, increasing to 200,000 by 1970.

Since 1975, investments grew by 10% in the past year and had been targeted for development. At the same time, railways, which have an important role in serving the suburbs of the city, deteriorated however.

Market gardening around the city increased, spurred by growing unemployment, rural migration and the demand for vegetables. Market gardening, first extended to the north, is carried on mainly along the beach (whose sand is very salty), and planting hedges provides protection.

Digging bar

A digging bar is a long, straight metal bar used as a hand tool to deliver blows to break up and loosen hard or compacted materials (e.g., soil, rocks, concrete, ice) or as a lever to move objects. Digging bars are known by various other names depending on locale, structural features, and intended purpose. In Britain, Australia and New Zealand the tool is referred to as a crowbar, pry bar, or just a bar. In North America digging bars have various names including slate bar, shale bar, pinch point bar, and San Angelo bar. In Russian, it is typically called a lom (лом).

Uses

Common uses of digging bars include breaking up clay, concrete, frozen ground, and other hard materials, moving or breaking up tree roots and obstacles, and making holes in the ground for fence posts. They are often used where space would not allow use of a pickaxe.

Materials and construction

The ends of a digging bar are shaped during manufacturing to make them useful for various purposes. Typically, each end has a different shape so as to provide two different tool functions in one tool. Common end shapes include: