The evolution of a regional container port system: The Pearl River Delta

This study investigates the progress of container port system development in South China, focusing particularly on the interplay between Hong Kong and the other ports in the Pearl River Delta (PRD) region. After identifying the downgrading trend of Hong Kong from a transshipment hub port for Asia and for China as a whole to a regional load center and the emergence of other deepsea direct-service ports, the paper looks into the causes of this structural change of the port system. Four major causes are identified: the cost-base competition, the impact of the unique 'one-country two-systems' policy, the impact of globalization and container standardization, and the impact of multi-modal accessibility and connectivity. The paper reveals that the interplay between different governments and between the governments and port operators are the local mechanisms that together as a whole respond to the shippers' needs and the shipping lines' pressure. It confirms that the interdependencies and competitive relations between terminals are being played out at a regional level. While the particular situation of the PRD is unique in many regards, the features emerging there, with its dominant hub, its network of feeder ports and its emerging direct-service non-hub terminals, are being replicated elsewhere. (C) 2000 Published by Elsevier Science Ltd.link_to_subscribed_fulltex

Rheological spectroscopy of concentrated colloidal dispersions

A new instrument, the virtual gap rheometer (VGR) for the determination of dynamic shear moduli (and mechanical relaxation spectra therefrom) at frequencies above 100 Hz is described. Several features of the VGR which make it particularly suited to the study of concentrated viscoelastic colloidal dispersions are discussed. The underlying theory is presented and the instrument's operation illustrated with results obtained on aqueous dispersions of a model clay colloid