As a follow up to these meetings the Fourth International Symposium has the purpose of emphasizing the role of mechanical tests in the characterization, design and quality control of bituminous mixes. Its basic objectives are to evaluate all information enabling the assessment of methods, their advantages and drawbacks and also the manner in which problems can be solved, to establish a better understanding and a documentation of results of research and practical engineering in order to establish a common ground between research, road authorities and contractors. Traditional test methods help avoid large errors, but the significance of the results is very restricted. Fundamental methods are more complex; they yield better, more significant paremeters but the application of these methods is limited to experts and special laboratories. Consequently, every effort should be made to develop tests having the advantages of both the traditional as well as modern methods and avoiding the restrictions of both. The particular aim of this symposium is to promote tests for the characterization, design and control of bituminous mixes, considering the needs of practice and science and the connecti

This book forms the Proceedings of an International RILEM Symposium, the fourth in the series, on Testing of Bituminous Mixes in Budapest, Hungary, October 1990. The aim of the Symposium is to promote tests for the characterization, design and quality control of bituminous mixes which combine the best features of traditional and modern approaches. Among the topics covered are specimen preparation, tests with unique loading (Marshall test, uniaxial tension and creep tests etc), which are used for mix design or control of mechanical properties, and tests with repeated loading, which give information on fatigue, permanent deformation and moduli, especially for mix design.

The interplay between Geology and Biology has shaped the Earth from the early Precambrian, 4 billion years ago. Moving beyond the borders of the classical core disciplines, Geobiology strives to identify chains of cause-and-effect and synergisms between the geo- and the biospheres that have been driving the evolution of life in modern and ancient environments. Combining modern methods, geobiological information can be extracted not only from visible remains of organisms, but also from organic molecules, rock fabrics, minerals, isotopes and other tracers. An understanding of these processes and their signatures reveals enormous applied potentials with respect to issues of environment protection, public health, energy and resource management. The Encyclopedia of Geobiology has been designed to act as a key reference for students, researchers, teachers, and the informed public and to provide basic, but comprehensible knowledge on this rapidly expanding discipline that sits at the interface between modern geo- and biosciences.