Current methods to improve the engineering properties of sands are diverse with respect to methodology, treatment uniformity, cost, environmental impact, site accessibility requirements, etc. All of these methods have benefits and drawbacks, and there continues to be a need to explore new possibilities of soil improvement, particularly as suitable land for development becomes more scarce. This paper presents the results of a study in which natural microbial biological processes were used to engineer a cemented soil matrix within initially loose, collapsible sand. Microbially induced calcite precipitation (MICP) was achieved using the microorganism Bacillus pasteurii, an aerobic bacterium pervasive in natural soil deposits. The microbes were introduced to the sand specimens in a liquid growth medium amended with urea and a dissolved calcium source. Subsequent cementation treatments were passed through the specimen to increase the cementation level of the sand particle matrix. The results of both MICP- and ...

Consideration of soil as a living ecosystem offers the potential for innovative and sustainable solutions to geotechnical problems. This is a new paradigm for many in geotechnical engineering. Realising the potential of this paradigm requires a multidisciplinary approach that embraces biology and geochemistry to develop techniques for beneficial ground modification. This paper assesses the progress, opportunities, and challenges in this emerging field. Biomediated geochemical processes, which consist of a geochemical reaction regulated by subsurface microbiology, currently being explored include mineral precipitation, gas generation, biofilm formation and biopolymer generation. For each of these processes, subsurface microbial processes are employed to create an environment conducive to the desired geochemical reactions among the minerals, organic matter, pore fluids, and gases that constitute soil. Geotechnical applications currently being explored include cementation of sands to enhance bearing capacity and liquefaction resistance, sequestration of carbon, soil erosion control, groundwater flow control, and remediation of soil and groundwater impacted by metals and radionuclides. Challenges in biomediated ground modification include upscaling processes from the laboratory to the field, in situ monitoring of reactions, reaction products and properties, developing integrated biogeochemical and geotechnical models, management of treatment by-products, establishing the durability and longevity/reversibility of the process, and education of engineers and researchers.

Implementation of laboratory-tested biomediated soil improvement techniques in the field depends on upscaling the primary processes and controlling their rates. Microbial-induced carbonate precipitation (MICP) holds the potential for increasing the shear stiffness and reducing the hydraulic conductivity by harnessing a natural microbiological process that precipitates calcium carbonate. The study presented herein focuses on controlling MICP treatment of one-dimensional flow, half-meter-scale column experiments. Treatment was optimized by varying procedural parameters in five pairs of experiments including flow rates, flow direction, and formulations of biological and chemical amendments. Monitoring of column experiments included spatial and temporal measurements of the physical, chemical, and biological properties essential to the performance of MICP, including shear wave velocity, permeability, calcium carbonate content, aqueous calcium, aqueous ammonium, aqueous urea, and bacterial density. Rela...

Microbial-induced calcite precipitation (MICP), a novel bio-mediated ground improvement method, was explored to mitigate liquefaction-prone soils. Geotechnical centrifuge tests were used to evaluate cementation integrity and the response of MICP cemented sands to dynamic loading. The cementation integrity testing reveals a change in behaviour from ‘soil like' to ‘rock like', with an increase in treatment level. Results from dynamic testing demonstrate a clear increase in resistance to liquefaction of MICP-treated sands compared to untreated loose sand. The MICP sands were treated to varying levels of cementation (light, moderate and heavy cementation levels) and assessed using non-destructive shear wave velocity measurements. The centrifuge models were all subjected to ground motions consisting of sine waves with increasing amplitudes. Accelerations, pore pressures and settlements were measured in the soil during shaking, and the changes in soil behaviour and post-shaking shear wave velocity for soils prepared to different cementation levels are discussed. Increased resistance to liquefaction was demonstrated with a decrease in excess pore pressure ratios in the MICP-treated models, as well as in reduced post-shaking settlements; however, surface accelerations were amplified at heavy levels of cementation. A tradeoff between improving liquefaction resistance and minimising undesirable higher surface accelerations needs to be considered when designing the soil improvement level.