title: Design of a Stable Traffic Cone

authors: Wang, Chung-Fu(Chris)

subjects: traffic cone

abstract: Traffic cones are a common sight on roads in most countries but due to their commonplace nature people tend not to think too much about their design and the importance of them in maintaining safe traffic flow is often overlooked. Traffic cones have become a product that is taken for granted in daily life for most people. Traffic cones are so easy to see on the road and yet are readily neglected by people. Never the less traffic cones are still important for safety and guiding traffic flow even though they are so simple.

A traffic cone consists of a relatively thin walled cone above a square hollow base. In order to increase the cones stability, the base is usually weighted therefore lowering the centre of gravity of the entire traffic cone. Traffic cones are typically produced in plastic or composite materials for reasons of safety and cost.

A literature search of a range of books and professional magazines has turned up little related research and few reports on the topic of traffic or road cones. It appears that road- cones receive little attention by people, due to their simple profile and inexpensive production cost.

Most current products are designed with a considerable amount of weight in the base in order to increase the stability of the traffic cone, which consumes a relatively large amount of material. Stability cannot be significantly increased using this design strategy without increasing the amount of material and the cost of production. Therefore optimization of the design to improve flexibility and stability would be investigated without compromising the appearance or manufacturing costs.

text: Design of a Stable Traffic Cone Traffic cones are a common sight on roads in most countries but due to their commonplace nature people tend not to think too much about their design and the importance of them in maintaining safe traffic flow is often overlooked. Traffic cones have become a product that is taken for granted in daily life for most people. Traffic cones are so easy to see on the road and yet are readily neglected by people. Never the less traffic cones are still important for safety and guiding traffic flow even though they are so simple.

A traffic cone consists of a relatively thin walled cone above a square hollow base. In order to increase the cones stability, the base is usually weighted therefore lowering the centre of gravity of the entire traffic cone. Traffic cones are typically produced in plastic or composite materials for reasons of safety and cost.

A literature search of a range of books and professional magazines has turned up little related research and few reports on the topic of traffic or road cones. It appears that road- cones receive little attention by people, due to their simple profile and inexpensive production cost.

Most current products are designed with a considerable amount of weight in the base in order to increase the stability of the traffic cone, which consumes a relatively large amount of material. Stability cannot be significantly increased using this design strategy without increasing the amount of material and the cost of production. Therefore optimization of the design to improve flexibility and stability would be investigated without compromising the appearance or manufacturing costs.

year: 2006

title: A Geological Map of Te Kuiti Sheet BF33 at 1:50 000 scale, King Country Basin, New Zealand

authors: Whiteman, Benjamin David

subjects: Te Kuiti Group

abstract: The principal research objective of this thesis has been to produce a new 1:50 000 scale geological map of topographic map BF33 (Te Kuiti Sheet), one of the new Topo 50 topographic map sheets covering New Zealand. The geological map was produced through a conventional field mapping approach coupled with structure contouring using ArcGIS software. Hence the physical map printed at a 1:50 000 scale is backed-up by a database in ArcGIS, which is scaleless. The map illustrates the distribution and extent of Cenozoic stratigraphic units (Te Kuiti Group, Mahoenui Group, Mokau Group, Otunui Formation and Pakaumanu Group ignimbrites) and Jurassic basement in the field area. The map represents significant revision of the distribution of units and occurrence of faults compared with previous geological maps of the area, including the 1:50 000 field sheet prepared for the production of the new 1:250 000 Waikato QMAP sheet (Edbrooke, 2005). Several new normal faults east of Te Kuiti have been identified and mapped, as well as minor changes in the location of Waipa Fault. A west-east trending syncline has also been identified and mapped in the southern part of the field area. 
Stratigraphic columns through Te Kuiti, Mahoenui and Mokau groups, and Otunui Formation, have been drawn for numerous sites, appealing in some cases to previously produced columns. Facies descriptions of these successions have also been made and environments of deposition interpreted from them. The Oligocene to Earliest Miocene (Whaingaroan-Waitakian stages) Te Kuiti Group is comprised of basal coal measures, calcareous sandstone, calcareous siltstone and limestone facies, which accumulated in fluvial environments (coal measures) and mainly in shelf environments. The Early Miocene (Otaian Stage) Mahoenui Group is comprised mainly of mudstone facies (Taumatamaire Formation) with some interbedded occurrences of turbidites. Limestone facies (Cherry Tree Limestone Member), occurs near the base of Taumatamaire Formation in the close vicinity of Te Kuiti, comprising redeposited beds. The Mahoenui succession accumulated in upper bathyal environments as the basin rapidly subsided. Bexley Sandstone (Mokau Group) comprises mainly sandstone facies with interbedded mudstonesandstone within Mangarino Member, which occurs in the lower part of the formation north of Te Kuiti. Bexley Sandstone accumulated in shallow marine and marginal marine (Mangarino Member) environments within a transgressive systems tract. Otunui Formation comprises mainly silty sandstone facies. A shellbed at the base of the formation, known as Mangarara Formation, accumulated as a transgressive shoreface to innermost shelf deposit; it is conformably overlain by thick bioturbated silty fine sandstone facies that accumulated in shelf and upper bathyal environments. From its degree of induration, a 2 km thick succession accumulated above Otunui Formation (e.g. Mt Messenger Formation to Matemateaonga Formation), but it was eroded prior to emplacement of Early Pleistocene Pakaumanu Group ignimbrites sourced from Taupo Volcanic Zone. Individual ignimbrite eruptives have not been differentiated on the geological map. A landscape with considerable relief has developed upon the ignimbrite units and Holocene alluvium has accumulated in valley floors.

text: A Geological Map of Te Kuiti Sheet BF33 at 1:50 000 scale, King Country Basin, New Zealand The principal research objective of this thesis has been to produce a new 1:50 000 scale geological map of topographic map BF33 (Te Kuiti Sheet), one of the new Topo 50 topographic map sheets covering New Zealand. The geological map was produced through a conventional field mapping approach coupled with structure contouring using ArcGIS software. Hence the physical map printed at a 1:50 000 scale is backed-up by a database in ArcGIS, which is scaleless. The map illustrates the distribution and extent of Cenozoic stratigraphic units (Te Kuiti Group, Mahoenui Group, Mokau Group, Otunui Formation and Pakaumanu Group ignimbrites) and Jurassic basement in the field area. The map represents significant revision of the distribution of units and occurrence of faults compared with previous geological maps of the area, including the 1:50 000 field sheet prepared for the production of the new 1:250 000 Waikato QMAP sheet (Edbrooke, 2005). Several new normal faults east of Te Kuiti have been identified and mapped, as well as minor changes in the location of Waipa Fault. A west-east trending syncline has also been identified and mapped in the southern part of the field area. 
Stratigraphic columns through Te Kuiti, Mahoenui and Mokau groups, and Otunui Formation, have been drawn for numerous sites, appealing in some cases to previously produced columns. Facies descriptions of these successions have also been made and environments of deposition interpreted from them. The Oligocene to Earliest Miocene (Whaingaroan-Waitakian stages) Te Kuiti Group is comprised of basal coal measures, calcareous sandstone, calcareous siltstone and limestone facies, which accumulated in fluvial environments (coal measures) and mainly in shelf environments. The Early Miocene (Otaian Stage) Mahoenui Group is comprised mainly of mudstone facies (Taumatamaire Formation) with some interbedded occurrences of turbidites. Limestone facies (Cherry Tree Limestone Member), occurs near the base of Taumatamaire Formation in the close vicinity of Te Kuiti, comprising redeposited beds. The Mahoenui succession accumulated in upper bathyal environments as the basin rapidly subsided. Bexley Sandstone (Mokau Group) comprises mainly sandstone facies with interbedded mudstonesandstone within Mangarino Member, which occurs in the lower part of the formation north of Te Kuiti. Bexley Sandstone accumulated in shallow marine and marginal marine (Mangarino Member) environments within a transgressive systems tract. Otunui Formation comprises mainly silty sandstone facies. A shellbed at the base of the formation, known as Mangarara Formation, accumulated as a transgressive shoreface to innermost shelf deposit; it is conformably overlain by thick bioturbated silty fine sandstone facies that accumulated in shelf and upper bathyal environments. From its degree of induration, a 2 km thick succession accumulated above Otunui Formation (e.g. Mt Messenger Formation to Matemateaonga Formation), but it was eroded prior to emplacement of Early Pleistocene Pakaumanu Group ignimbrites sourced from Taupo Volcanic Zone. Individual ignimbrite eruptives have not been differentiated on the geological map. A landscape with considerable relief has developed upon the ignimbrite units and Holocene alluvium has accumulated in valley floors.

year: 2017

title: Ko Te Kawa Tūpanapana i ngā Hau Tūpua a Tāwhiri-mātea : The validation, revitalisation and enhancement of Māori environment knowledge of weather and climate

authors: Skipper, Apanui Sonny

subjects: Maori Environmental knowledge

abstract: KO TE KAWA TŪPANAPANA I NGĀ HAU TŪPUA A TĀWHIRI-MĀTEA – THE RITUALISTIC FORMS GOVERNING THE SUPERNATURAL WINDS OF TĀWHIRI-MĀTEA
Mankind has always gazed skyward observing the im immense power generated by forked lightning when it strikes the land. The resounding thunder booming across the landscape never failed to capture the awe and imagination of a people. Māori were no different. The legacy of their Polynesian ancestors, who populated most of the Islands of Te Moana-nui-a-Kiwa, the largest ocean on the planet, based on belief, courage, and navigational expertise, honed over many millenia, reached Aotearoa approximately in the 12 century. These highly skilled ancestors from the tropics applied a formalised process of settling a new land. It also required their own weatherlore to be recalibrated to the local conditions, in order to survive in a much harsher, colder climate.

Over the centuries the descendants of these early Polynesian settlers, developed an extensive localised knowledge of weather, climate, and seasonal indicators to accurately predict daily weather, monthly or annual climate conditions. The ongoing lessons learned especially after experiencing a fatality were incorporated into cultural practices of important everyday activities such as ahuwhenua, te mahi hī ika, kohi rongoā, whakaako tamariki, gathering pounamu, whakatū rāhui, and kaitiakitanga, in order to minimise further loss of life.

Formal recognition of these contributions was made at the inaugural Māori Climate Forum in Wellington in 2003, where a number of Māori elders highlighted the importance of giving a greater account of Māori knowledge of environmental change. Among the many priorities identified for research at this forum, an opportunity based on a challenge from a Māori elder led to the development of a pilot project to explore traditional Māori understandings of weather–climate variability and change. 

One of the key outcomes from this work was the identification of Māori environmental indicators to anticipate local weather and climate conditions and thereby manage the risk associated with weather-climate extremes. However, in spite of the work achieved, there remain unanswered questions about the use and ongoing efficacy of environmental indicators to forecast and monitor weather and climate risks, including how new opportunities might be created to promote learning about subtle signals in nature that can reveal much about changes in weather and climate conditions. 

Due to the fact that many of the elders that provided the basis of this thesis have passed away, a great sense of responsibility has remained with me to complete this research. To identify the gaps in the previous research, to ground-truth it, to consolidate and carefully document the level of localised environmental knowledge of weather and climate specifically with iwi from Tainui-Hauraki, Te Whānau-a-Apanui, and Ngāi Tahu. A total of 56 interviews and 17 group wānanga were conducted during 2009-2016. Examples of Māori Environmental Knowledge were also sourced from numerous personal conversations with knowledge holders from 1989-2003, adding to the body of knowledge that was analysed to provide further context. A conceptual framework coined `Ngā Whenu Tapu e Waru’ was created from identifying the key themes of the interviews to inform how Māori Environmental Knowledge was described in the three regions. This study has yielded understandings of wind, rain, thunder, lightning, and cloud classifications; weather and climate indicators; spiritual signs of misfortune and death; memory techniques; longitudinal weather predictions, and lunar calendars in each region.

This thesis is underpinned by a Kaupapa Māori theory and research methodology that links to a body of transformative research and literature conducted by Māori scholars based on the knowledge and experience of tūpuna  Māori. 

Heoti anō rā kei ngā kākahi whakairoiro, kei ngā matataiko, nau piki mai, nau kake mai ki tēnei wānanga nui whakaharahara.

text: Ko Te Kawa Tūpanapana i ngā Hau Tūpua a Tāwhiri-mātea : The validation, revitalisation and enhancement of Māori environment knowledge of weather and climate KO TE KAWA TŪPANAPANA I NGĀ HAU TŪPUA A TĀWHIRI-MĀTEA – THE RITUALISTIC FORMS GOVERNING THE SUPERNATURAL WINDS OF TĀWHIRI-MĀTEA
Mankind has always gazed skyward observing the im immense power generated by forked lightning when it strikes the land. The resounding thunder booming across the landscape never failed to capture the awe and imagination of a people. Māori were no different. The legacy of their Polynesian ancestors, who populated most of the Islands of Te Moana-nui-a-Kiwa, the largest ocean on the planet, based on belief, courage, and navigational expertise, honed over many millenia, reached Aotearoa approximately in the 12 century. These highly skilled ancestors from the tropics applied a formalised process of settling a new land. It also required their own weatherlore to be recalibrated to the local conditions, in order to survive in a much harsher, colder climate.

Over the centuries the descendants of these early Polynesian settlers, developed an extensive localised knowledge of weather, climate, and seasonal indicators to accurately predict daily weather, monthly or annual climate conditions. The ongoing lessons learned especially after experiencing a fatality were incorporated into cultural practices of important everyday activities such as ahuwhenua, te mahi hī ika, kohi rongoā, whakaako tamariki, gathering pounamu, whakatū rāhui, and kaitiakitanga, in order to minimise further loss of life.

Formal recognition of these contributions was made at the inaugural Māori Climate Forum in Wellington in 2003, where a number of Māori elders highlighted the importance of giving a greater account of Māori knowledge of environmental change. Among the many priorities identified for research at this forum, an opportunity based on a challenge from a Māori elder led to the development of a pilot project to explore traditional Māori understandings of weather–climate variability and change. 

One of the key outcomes from this work was the identification of Māori environmental indicators to anticipate local weather and climate conditions and thereby manage the risk associated with weather-climate extremes. However, in spite of the work achieved, there remain unanswered questions about the use and ongoing efficacy of environmental indicators to forecast and monitor weather and climate risks, including how new opportunities might be created to promote learning about subtle signals in nature that can reveal much about changes in weather and climate conditions. 

Due to the fact that many of the elders that provided the basis of this thesis have passed away, a great sense of responsibility has remained with me to complete this research. To identify the gaps in the previous research, to ground-truth it, to consolidate and carefully document the level of localised environmental knowledge of weather and climate specifically with iwi from Tainui-Hauraki, Te Whānau-a-Apanui, and Ngāi Tahu. A total of 56 interviews and 17 group wānanga were conducted during 2009-2016. Examples of Māori Environmental Knowledge were also sourced from numerous personal conversations with knowledge holders from 1989-2003, adding to the body of knowledge that was analysed to provide further context. A conceptual framework coined `Ngā Whenu Tapu e Waru’ was created from identifying the key themes of the interviews to inform how Māori Environmental Knowledge was described in the three regions. This study has yielded understandings of wind, rain, thunder, lightning, and cloud classifications; weather and climate indicators; spiritual signs of misfortune and death; memory techniques; longitudinal weather predictions, and lunar calendars in each region.

This thesis is underpinned by a Kaupapa Māori theory and research methodology that links to a body of transformative research and literature conducted by Māori scholars based on the knowledge and experience of tūpuna  Māori. 

Heoti anō rā kei ngā kākahi whakairoiro, kei ngā matataiko, nau piki mai, nau kake mai ki tēnei wānanga nui whakaharahara.

year: 2020