Bio Cementation: Improving Soil Engineering Properties

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ABSTRACT
One of the recently developed branches of
geotechnical engineering is called bio
cementation. This particular technology
deals with the application of the microbial
activities in the improvement of soil
engineering properties. One of the
commonly adopted processes includes use
of the microbially induced calcite
precipitation (MICP) to achieve soil bio
cementation. This particular technique uses
the metabolic pathways of bacteria in the
formation of the compound known as
calcite. It is the calcite compound which
binds the soil particle together. The resultant
soil has increased soil strength as well as
stiff properties. Such particular research
work is meant to provide an overview on the
applications which can effectively improve
the characteristics of the soil. The paper
discusses the processes of the treatment
which include among others the involved
primary components and other factors which
majorly affects the process. The potential
advantages, envisioned applications, as well
as the limitation of the process or technique
of MICP for the improvement of the soil,
have been presented as well in the research
paper. The paper has evaluated the
challenges that affect the performance or the
effectiveness of the stated process in regard
to the future research including upscaling
for, in situ implementation, treatment
optimization, as well as self-healing of the
bio, treated the soil.
Key Words: Bio cementation, Microbial
Induced Calcite Precipitation (MICP),
treatment, soil, Urease, Bacteria.

Contents
ABSTRACT..........................................2
INTRODUCTION...................................2
RESEARCH PROBLEM..........................3
LITERATURE REVIEW..........................3
Bio-cemented soil properties...........3
Permeabilit...................................3
Porosity........................................5
Stiffness.......................................5
Strength Shear Type.......................6
Unconfined compressive strength...6
Microstructure.................................7
METHODOLOGY..................................7
Current soil Improvement............7
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION................8
Factors affecting CaCO3 crystals formation in MICP treatment 8
Bacteria Concentration................8
Cementation solution concentration9
Advantages of MICP.........................9
System reliability.........................9
Sustainable promotion....................9
Disadvantages of MICP....................9
Soil compatibility..........................9
RECOMMENDATIONS........................10
CONCLUSION....................................10
REFERENCES....................................11
INTRODUCTION
There has been a paved way into the new
frontier of the geobiology knowledge as a
result of the multidisciplinary research
between the geotechnical engineers as well
as microbiologists. These kinds of situations
have provided perfect opportunities to the
engineers to take it as a consideration that

soil form part of the ecosystem for the living
things. The use of the microorganism as
catalysts with the potential catalytic property
in the bio cementation of the soil has been
put forward by several scholars(Mahawish,
Bouazza and Gates 2018). Despite the fact
majority of the research work have provided
a comprehensive review in connection to the
processes of the emerging biogeochemical
processes as well as their crucial
applications in the geotechnical field, the
present article is concentrating on the art
state which are related to its history while
utilizing bio cementation via microbial-
induced calcite precipitation(MICP).In
particular, the discussion has been on the
factors which are perceived to be
responsible for affecting the MICP
effectiveness. This has been compared to the
projected costs that are incurred by this
technique as opposed to other techniques
that are conventional in the field. The
potential advantages envisioned applications
as well as limitations of the MICP in the
improvement of the soil property are
presented and properly
addressed(Khodadadi et al.2017).
RESEARCH PROBLEM
One of the commonly adopted processes
includes use of the microbially induced
calcite precipitation (MICP) to achieve soil
bio cementation. This particular technique
uses the metabolic pathways of bacteria in
the formation of the compound known as
calcite. It is the calcite compound which
binds the soil particle together. The
literature sources have only identified this
technique but failed to elaborate
comprehensively how the same process is
carried. This is what this particular paper
seeks to address.
LITERATURE REVIEW
Bio-cemented soil properties
Permeability