Racism and Intolerance in Eastern Australia: a geographic perspective

Racism has become a fact of life in Australia over the past decade or so, yet there are relatively few studies of its nature or extent, and still fewer on its geography. Using a social constructivist approach, this study draws on a survey of 5056 respondents to investigate attitudes to racism and cultural diversity in New South Wales and Queensland, and of perceptions of out-groups as instances of ‘strangers in our midst’. On racism, results show the presence of a continuum of attitudes ranging from generally tolerant to generally intolerant, a presence which cuts across compositional (social or aspatial) characteristics to emphasise the existence of a distinctive geography, an everywhere different nature to racist and non-racist attitudes which transcends urban–rural and traditional social layers. On the other hand, perceptions of out-groups are not uniformly correlated with presence or absence of cultural diversity. In many cases, the ability to make judgements about significant ‘others’ or out-groups has been shown to relate more to abstract notions of self and national identity, reproduced in public by mainstream news media and political leaders. In particular, it may reflect an Anglo (or Anglo-Celtic) view on nationalism, which is a hallmark of the ‘new racism’: an assimilationist or ethnocultural view of Australian society which is different from the ‘civic nation’ ideal envisaged by multiculturalism. That the geography of attitudes and perceptions people have towards and about different cultural groups is so ‘everywhere different’ has important implications for attempts to address and redress issues of intolerance in Australia.     

Construction Problems on the Karstified Limestone Tuffs of Condeixa, Central Portugal: A Case Study

During the excavations for the foundations of a three storey building on the limestone tuffs of Condeixa, Central Portugal, a large dissolution fissure and smaller dissolution voids were found. Since the area has never been the subject of engineering geology investigation, it was decided to evaluate the risk associated with the construction of the building. These limestone tuffs were formed in a continental environment by the precipitation of calcite carried by the water coming from the large limestone body in the east. The precipitated calcite mixed with the terrigenous materials and around trunks and leaves of plants, originating a very heterogeneous and porous ground, which is characteristic of limestone tuffs. The study started with a detailed geological survey followed by a large number of destructive drillings, located essentially under the pad foundations. The results revealed several karstic cavities with serious problems for the building foundations and the structure, and many smaller dissolution cavities, often filled with clayey soils. The ground treatment solutions used included, dental cleaning, filling with concrete or granular material the dissolution structures accessible at the level of the foundation, reinforcement of the footing and the structure of the building and adding a continuous foundation beam to hold the foundations together. The cost of the engineering geology study, site investigation, ground treatment, and the reinforcement of the foundation and building, increased the total construction cost from 2%, at the design stage, to 4.8%.     

江苏省矿山的主要生态环境问题及治理对策

江苏的经济发展较快,对矿产资源的需求量亦大。多年来的无序开采,对生态环境造成很大的破坏和影响,出现了山体植被遭受破坏、土地被占用、环境受污染、诱发地面沉降、地面塌陷等一系列问题,已影响到国民经济的发展。随着省人大和省政府关于限制开山采石和保护环境等政策、法规出台和落实,近几年乱采滥挖现象基本得到了有效的遏制。人们的环保意识得到了加强,不少矿山已逐步开始对环境治理,且初见成效。文章介绍了江苏生态环境现状、存在的主要问题和治理对策,以期引起各级政府和广大民众在对矿产资源开采的同时更要注重环境保护。     

小型水电站建设用地地质灾害评估技术研究——以湄尼多河小型水电站为例

现阶段,地质灾害评估技术人员在评估实践中,往往不注重各评估对象的差异性,采取同一评估模式,结果达不到评估的目的。在对小型水电站进行评估时,野外调查的重点,评估过程中所使用的方法以及危险性现状、预测及综合分区评估等与大型水电站、路线工程、矿山开采、民用建筑等工程有所不同。湄尼多河小型水电站工程位于云南省怒江州福贡县马吉乡境内,地质环境条件复杂,评估级别综合为二级。文章以该电站建设用地地质灾害危险性评估为例,对小型水电站建设用地地质灾害危险性评估的方法与理论进行探讨。     

南汽试车跑道精密施工测量

介绍采用微型短边线形三角控制网、强制归心技术、独立前方交会成功的、高质量、高精度、高效益完成南汽试车跑道精密施工测量，希望能为类似工程测量提供一定的参考。(摘要修改)     

GPS静态定位技术在滆湖公路大桥测量中的应用

介绍了利用全球定位系统(GPS)静态定位技术，如何为滆湖公路大桥建立控制网，延伸出时控制网平差方案的确立上，以及如何使控制网中的成果与公路主线控制网中的成果互相兼容，从而为工程的设计与施工提供必要的控制资料。     

鄂西火烧坪地区岩溶生态环境系统及生态农业模式初探

通过对鄂西火烧坪地区的自然地理、地质构造、水文地质、土壤、植被及社会经济等方面的初步研究表明，在岩溶化作用十分强烈的岩溶山区，当气候、地形地貌、地质构造等条件匹配较好时，同样存在着一些极其有利于农业、林业发展的特殊生态环境。在这些地区，结合当地植物资源特点和市场需求，通过农作物类型的调整，能够在短时间内使当地摆脱贫穷的面貌。但在发展经济的同时必须特别关注当地土地资源相对缺乏、水资源时空分布不均、生态环境脆弱等不利因素，做到适度开发，稳步发展，才能从根本上实现小康目标。     

公路边坡工程监测技术评价与分析

结合公路工程、建筑工程等土木工程建设中经常涉及到的边坡工程,评价与分析边坡工程监测的作用、内容和方法,提出了边坡工程应该在工程项目开展的开始阶段就应进行和边坡工程监测的项目,选择原则,测点布置原则、监测周期等,对边坡工程建设具有重要的意义.     

基于栅格空间信息定量化的湖南西部地区生态环境综合评价

以湖南西部地区为研究区域,采用遥感影像作为主要数据源,针对区域主要生态问题,利用栅格数据结构为主的数字环境模型,建立了生态环境质量综合评价模型. 对区域生态环境质量的空间分异格局进行了研究,通过将评价结果与数字高程模型迭加分析,研究了生态环境质量的垂直地带性分布规律,探索适合以山高坡陡为主要地貌特征的山区生态评价方法,结果显示,湖南西部地区生态环境综合指数呈正态分布,大部分地区环境质量属一般. 总体环境状况东南部好于西北部,河谷盆地优于山地. 研究表明,利用遥感和地理信息系统技术进行区域生态环境评价,具有数据采集快速、客观,评价和制图自动化,评价结果空间定位精度高,直观性与实用性强等优点.     

桥梁隔震体系振动台试验研究(IV)——隔震桥梁的设计方法探讨

在前文模型试验的基础上 ,本文总结归纳了隔震桥梁的设计方法与设计流程 ,着重论述探讨了隔震桥梁的概念设计与细部构造设计应注意的问题