Improving non-uniform gravelly sand using microbially induced carbonate precipitation : an outdoor cubic-meter scale trial by engineering contractors

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Sang, Guijie and Lunn, Rebecca J. and El Mountassir, Grainne and Minto, James M. and McLachlan, Erica and Bradley, David and Henderson, Kenneth (2024) Improving non-uniform gravelly sand using microbially induced carbonate precipitation : an outdoor cubic-meter scale trial by engineering contractors. Engineering Geology, 343. 107791. ISSN 0013-7952 (https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enggeo.2024.107791)

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Abstract

Soil improvement using microbially induced carbonate precipitation (MICP) remains largely confined to the laboratory, with only a very small number of large-scale experiments having been completed under field conditions and none by engineering contractors. This study presents a cubic-meter scale improvement of heterogeneous natural sand collected from a local quarry, with a wide variation in grain size, via MICP. The MICP trial was conducted by engineering contractors in a cubic test cell under variable temperatures ranging from 5 °C to 19 °C. The upscaling of cultivation of Sporosarcina pasteurii (600 L for each treatment cycle) under non-sterile conditions, as performed by engineering contractors, achieved an optical density (OD 600) of 0.89 and a specific urease activity of 2.5 mM urea/min/OD 600. Post-MICP-treated sands were subjected to a series of coring, block sampling and laboratory tests. The block sampling process indicated that the majority of sand was effectively cemented, with a small region near a side wall forming a less well-cemented zone, likely induced by less effective fluid delivery in this region. The unconfined compressive strengths of three cores (diameter: 10 cm, length: 22 cm) were 3.6, 4.4, and 7.6 MPa. Consolidated-drained triaxial tests on sub-sampled cores also demonstrated rock-like material behaviour, with a peak friction angle of 43.6° and peak cohesion of 0.64 MPa, and ultimate state frictional angles of 42.0° and ultimate cohesion of 0.12 MPa. The increased shear parameters of the bio-cemented samples (relative to the untreated samples) have many implications for mitigation of geotechnical hazards such as soil liquefaction. The study marks a step forward industrial implementation of MICP for soil improvement by engineering contractors without prior knowledge of MICP.

ORCID iDs

Sang, Guijie ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2379-7521, Lunn, Rebecca J. ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4258-9349, El Mountassir, Grainne ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4213-8182, Minto, James M. ORCID logoORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9414-4157, McLachlan, Erica, Bradley, David and Henderson, Kenneth;
CORE (COnnecting REpositories)