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.
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March 2013
Research Article|
March 01 2013
Biogeochemical processes and geotechnical applications: progress, opportunities and challenges
J.T. DEJONG;
J.T. DEJONG
1
1 Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of California, Davis, CA, USA.
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K. SOGA;
K. SOGA
2
2 Department of Engineering, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK.
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E. KAVAZANJIAN;
E. KAVAZANJIAN
3
3 School of Sustainable Engineering and the Built Environment, Arizona State University, Phoenix, AZ, USA.
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S. BURNS;
S. BURNS
4
4 School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA, USA.
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L.A. VAN PAASSEN;
L.A. VAN PAASSEN
5
5 Department of Geoscience and Engineering, Delft University of Technology, The Netherlands.
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A. AL QABANY;
A. AL QABANY
2
2 Department of Engineering, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK.
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A. AYDILEK;
A. AYDILEK
6
6 Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, USA.
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S.S. BANG;
S.S. BANG
7
7 Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, South Dakota School of Mines and Technology, Rapid City, SD, USA.
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M. BURBANK;
M. BURBANK
8
8 Environmental Biotechnology Institute, University of Idaho, Moscow, ID, USA.
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L.F. CASLAKE;
L.F. CASLAKE
9
9 Department of Biology, Lafayette College, Easton, PA, USA.
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C.Y. CHEN;
C.Y. CHEN
10
10 Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, National Chung Cheng University, Taiwan.
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X. CHENG;
X. CHENG
11
11 Department of Civil Engineering, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China.
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J. CHU;
J. CHU
12
12 Department of Civil, Construction and Environmental Engineering, Iowa State University, Ames, IA, USA.
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S. CIURLI;
S. CIURLI
13
13 Department of Agro-Environmental Science and Technology, University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy.
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A. ESNAULT-FILET;
A. ESNAULT-FILET
14
14 Research & Development Department, Soletanche Bachy, Rueil Malmaison, France.
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S. FAURIEL;
S. FAURIEL
15
15 Laboratory for Soil Mechanics, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Lausanne, Switzerland.
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N. HAMDAN;
N. HAMDAN
16
16 Department of Civil, Environmental and Sustainable Engineering, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, USA.
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T. HATA;
T. HATA
17
17 Department of Civil Engineering, Nagano National College of Technology, Nagano, Japan.
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Y. INAGAKI;
Y. INAGAKI
18
18 Geology and Geotechnical Engineering Research Group, Public Works Institute, Japan.
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S. JEFFERIS;
S. JEFFERIS
19
19 Environmental Geotechnics Ltd and Department of Engineering Science, University of Oxford, Banbury, UK.
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M. KUO;
M. KUO
2
2 Department of Engineering, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK.
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L. LALOUI;
L. LALOUI
14
14 Research & Development Department, Soletanche Bachy, Rueil Malmaison, France.
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J. LARRAHONDO;
D.A.C. MANNING;
D.A.C. MANNING
21
21 School of Civil Engineering & Geosciences, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK.
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B. MARTINEZ;
B. MARTINEZ
22
22 Geosyntec Consultants, Oakland, CA, USA.
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B.M. MONTOYA;
B.M. MONTOYA
23
23 Department of Civil, Construction, and Environmental Engineering, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC, USA.
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D.C. NELSON;
D.C. NELSON
24
24 Department of Microbiology, University of California, Davis, CA, USA.
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A. PALOMINO;
A. PALOMINO
25
25 Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN, USA.
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P. RENFORTH;
P. RENFORTH
26
26 Department of Earth Sciences, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK.
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J.C. SANTAMARINA;
J.C. SANTAMARINA
4
4 School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA, USA.
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E.A. SEAGREN;
E.A. SEAGREN
27
27 Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Michigan Technological University, Houghton, MI, USA.
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B. TANYU;
B. TANYU
28
28 Department of Civil, Environmental, and Infrastructure Engineering, George Mason University, Fairfax, VA, USA.
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M. TSESARSKY;
M. TSESARSKY
29
29 Department of Structural Engineering and Department of Geological and Environmental Sciences, Ben Gurion University of the Negev, Beer-Sheva, Israel.
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1 Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of California, Davis, CA, USA.
2 Department of Engineering, University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK.
3 School of Sustainable Engineering and the Built Environment, Arizona State University, Phoenix, AZ, USA.
4 School of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA, USA.
5 Department of Geoscience and Engineering, Delft University of Technology, The Netherlands.
6 Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Maryland, College Park, MD, USA.
7 Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, South Dakota School of Mines and Technology, Rapid City, SD, USA.
8 Environmental Biotechnology Institute, University of Idaho, Moscow, ID, USA.
9 Department of Biology, Lafayette College, Easton, PA, USA.
10 Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, National Chung Cheng University, Taiwan.
11 Department of Civil Engineering, Tsinghua University, Beijing, China.
12 Department of Civil, Construction and Environmental Engineering, Iowa State University, Ames, IA, USA.
13 Department of Agro-Environmental Science and Technology, University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy.
14 Research & Development Department, Soletanche Bachy, Rueil Malmaison, France.
15 Laboratory for Soil Mechanics, Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Lausanne, Switzerland.
16 Department of Civil, Environmental and Sustainable Engineering, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, USA.
17 Department of Civil Engineering, Nagano National College of Technology, Nagano, Japan.
18 Geology and Geotechnical Engineering Research Group, Public Works Institute, Japan.
19 Environmental Geotechnics Ltd and Department of Engineering Science, University of Oxford, Banbury, UK.
20 INGETEC S. A., Bogota, Columbia.
21 School of Civil Engineering & Geosciences, Newcastle University, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK.
22 Geosyntec Consultants, Oakland, CA, USA.
23 Department of Civil, Construction, and Environmental Engineering, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, NC, USA.
24 Department of Microbiology, University of California, Davis, CA, USA.
25 Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN, USA.
26 Department of Earth Sciences, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK.
27 Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Michigan Technological University, Houghton, MI, USA.
28 Department of Civil, Environmental, and Infrastructure Engineering, George Mason University, Fairfax, VA, USA.
29 Department of Structural Engineering and Department of Geological and Environmental Sciences, Ben Gurion University of the Negev, Beer-Sheva, Israel.
30 Office of Research, Nuclear Regulatory Commission, USA.
Publisher: Emerald Publishing
Received:
March 02 2012
Accepted:
October 23 2012
Online ISSN: 1751-7656
Print ISSN: 0016-8505
© 2013 Thomas Telford Ltd
2013
Geotechnique (2013) 63 (4): 287–301.
Article history
Received:
March 02 2012
Accepted:
October 23 2012
Citation
DEJONG J, SOGA K, KAVAZANJIAN E, BURNS S, VAN PAASSEN L, AL QABANY A, AYDILEK A, BANG S, BURBANK M, CASLAKE L, CHEN C, CHENG X, CHU J, CIURLI S, ESNAULT-FILET A, FAURIEL S, HAMDAN N, HATA T, INAGAKI Y, JEFFERIS S, KUO M, LALOUI L, LARRAHONDO J, MANNING D, MARTINEZ B, MONTOYA B, NELSON D, PALOMINO A, RENFORTH P, SANTAMARINA J, SEAGREN E, TANYU B, TSESARSKY M, WEAVER T (2013), "Biogeochemical processes and geotechnical applications: progress, opportunities and challenges". Geotechnique, Vol. 63 No. 4 pp. 287–301, doi: https://doi.org/10.1680/geot.SIP13.P.017
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