A tale of two trails: Lessons from a comparative account of the Trans Canada Trail and the Sendero de Chile

A new generation of greenways has emerged in recent years, the most ambitious of which are nationwide, interconnected networks of multi-use, multi-purpose greenways and trails, clustered under a single national vision. However, because these initiatives have been the focus of so few research studies, opportunities to glean lessons from their planning and implementation have been limited. This paper contributes to addressing this knowledge gap by presenting a comparative account of two networks, the Trans Canada Trail in Canada and Sendero de Chile in Chile. Using document analysis and interviews with officials closely involved in their development, the evolution of both networks is documented over time, emphasizing similarities and differences related to their planning and implementation. Both initiatives have faced significant challenges in reaching their connection goals and have availed themselves of a diverse range of opportunities and strategies to advance their agendas. A simple model of a virtuous cycle is proposed to highlight the positive feedback—between political and public support, sustained funding, partnership development, accessibility for urban residents, and connectivity of the network—generated by sustained network expansion over time. It is hoped that the insights offered from this analysis may offer guidance to inform the development of similar scale projects elsewhere.     

Iron age occupation in the Méma region,Mali

The recent archaeological campaign (regional site survey and excavations at the mound complex of Akumbu) has demonstrated that the Méma, a dry Sahelian region with a scattered population, was intensively occupied during the Iron Age. This intense occupation, certainly associated with better environmental conditions, extends back to the Late Stone Age. During the regional survey more than 100 Iron Age sites and nearly 30 Late Stone Age sites were identified; their size, surface material and features, and location on geomorphological zones were recorded. A series of radiocarbon dates spanning the fourth to fourteenth centuries ad obtained from the excavations at the Iron Age mound complex of Akumbu and a preliminary analysis of the pottery from both the excavations and the survey permitted the determination of a broad chronology of occupation. Numerous slag heaps (associated with smelting furnace remains) found during the survey and imported goods uncovered during the excavations at Akumbu indicate that both iron production and long-distance trade played an important role in the Méma economy.

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Résumé Une campagne archéologique (reconnaissance et fouilles) exécutée en 1989–1990 a montré que le Méma, une région sahelienne de grande sécheresse à population actuellement éparse, était intensément peuplé pendant la période de l'Age du Fer. Cette intense occupation, certainement liée à de meilleures conditions climatiques, semble remonter à la période du néolithique. Au cours de la reconnaissance, conduite à l'échelle régionale, plus d'une centaine de sites datant de l'Age du Fer et environ une trentaine de sites néolithiques furent identifiés, enregistrés et décrits en termes de leurs dimensions, matériels et caractéristiques de surface, et environnement. Une série de datations au radiocarbone, obtenue lors de la fouille sur le complexe de buttes d'habitat de Akumbu, dans la partie ouest du Méma, indique une occupation s'étendant du quatrième siècle au quatorzième siècle de notre ère. La découverte d'imposants amas de scories, associés à des restes de hauts fourneaux, et objets exotiques trouvés lors des fouilles à Akumbu, attestent que la production de fer et le commerce à longue distance jouaient tous les deux un important rôle dans l'économie du Méma.

     

Modeling and Prediction of Long-Distance Traffic Flows Through the Example of Road Transport in the Czech Republic

The construction of large-scale long-distance roads brings an irreversible impact on the landscape and therefore its careful and precise planning is very important. For this planning we use data on the intensity of traffic flows on existing roads and statistical tools for the modeling of planned traffic flows. The main objective of this paper is the modeling of the existing intensity of traffic flows on highways and expressways in the Czech Republic by determination of the optimal distance-decay function. On the basis of the resulting model and the resulting distance-decay function, it is possible to predict the intensity of traffic in the event of the completion and commissioning of new sections of highways and expressways. The subsequent analysis will allow us to make a qualified prediction of traffic intensity in the event of the completion of the R35 expressway, or after the completion of the R35 and R43 expressways. Besides the intensity on the above-mentioned roads themselves, the paper also predicts the expected reduction in traffic intensity on the busiest highway in the Czech Republic, that is, on the D1 highway between Prague and Brno.     

FRICTION DAMPED STEEL MOMENT-RESISTING FRAMES SUBJECTED TO LONG-DISTANCE EARTHQUAKES: INFLUENCE OF WELD FRACTURES

It has been generally accepted that steel moment-resisting frames behave in a ductile manner under seismic excitations. However, during the 1994 Northridge earthquake in California, weld fractures at the beam-to-column connections occurred in many steel buildings. Such brittle failures obviously precluded the traditional ductile-behaviour assumption and had a significant effect on the responses of steel moment-resisting frames. In this paper, the performance of a friction damping system for retrofitting steel moment-resisting frames was investigated under long-distance earthquakes. For this purpose, the 1985 Mexico City (SCT), the 1995 Bangkok, or the 1977 Romania ground motions, all scaled to a peak ground acceleration of 0.17 g, were considered in this study. Responses of the building under the 1940 El Centro N-S component were also included for comparison. The results of the study show that a friction damping system can reduce the seismic responses significantly. The devices can also prevent the total collapse and joint failures of the building equipped with friction dampers, while the one without dampers would collapse, even under a peak ground acceleration of only 0.17 g.     

Archaeological trends in the Southern Cone of South America

Current major research directions and findings in three areas of Southern Cone archaeology are discussed: (1) the entry of humans in Late Pleistocene times and early hunter-gatherer society, (2) the emergence of chiefdom societies, and (3) the Inca state. These themes are considered broadly in terms of local and interregional models of economic mobility and sociopolitical organization. Although emphasis is given primarily to the Andean regions of Argentina, Chile, and Bolivia, new studies and developments in the Argentinian Pampa and Patagonia are discussed.     

Florentine networks in the Middle East in the early Renaissance

By crossing data from Florentine collections with notarial records produced in Egypt and Syria, this article focuses on the Florentine trading networks operating in the eastern Mediterranean during the fifteenth century. It highlights two factors influencing Florence’s long-distance trade in the area: political unrest characteristic of Italian Renaissance cities, and the scant interest of the Florentine government in building diplomatic and commercial institutions. Initially woven by exiled merchant-bankers and offshore companies, the network reconfigured towards the middle of the century around a group of entrepreneurs based in Rhodes, who were deeply entrenched in local finance and in business with the Islamic cities. The article provides a more complex view of relations between government institutions and Mediterranean long-distance trade by approaching the rise of the Medici in Florentine politics and their handling of the network.     

From the Piedmont to the Coast: LA-ICP-MS 87Sr/86Sr evidence for short-term,long-distance mobility in the American Southeast

Mounting evidence suggests that the Archaic Southeast shell mound builders had large-scale trade networks and engaged in social aggregations. Here, incremental ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr values were measured by laser ablation-inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS) in third molar enamel samples of 11 individuals interred in the Middle Archaic Harris Creek shell burial mound in St. John's River Valley (SJRV), Florida. Results reveal that SJRV residents engaged in short-term, long-distance mobility up to the Piedmont margin and excursions into coastal areas, consistent with direct trading and social gatherings. Two individuals are interpreted as migrants from central Tennessee, suggesting a link to the Ohio River Valley shell mound builders.     

Ruling from afar: government and information management in late medieval Sicily

In 1412 Sicily lost its independence and became part of the Crown of Aragon. To rule the island, the new monarchs developed a system of long-distance government, through the action of local viceroys. But how did this system work in practice? This article engages with the lively historiographical debate about late medieval Sicily and more generally the Aragonese conglomerate by examining the series of libri quictacionum (‘books of quittances’) produced by the financial office, the Conservatoria regii patrimonii. It shows that the management of information – by means of a new genre of documents, an innovative record-keeping system and an apparatus of marginal annotations – became crucial in establishing effective government at a distance and in strengthening royal control over Sicilian institutions and officers. Moreover, these books and the documents they encompass highlight the social dynamics of the island and the emergence of an urban class: the Aragonese promoted the inclusion of the principal members of the latter into central government by granting them offices.