Objective
In a number of European countries, old railway transport infrastructure earthworks are suffering from serviceability problems or failures and need continuing and costly maintenance/remediation works. This is becoming a major constraint for railway owners and operators, especially in the light of the increased risk of hazards posed by climate change. The hypothesis of this research is that biocementation (a technique that uses natural biological processes to bind soil grains) is a viable and sustainable technique for improving the structural stability of railway earthworks, and hence, the resilience of the EU’s transport infrastructure. The hypothesis will be tested through the application of the technique on earthwork materials of the UK rail network. After establishing improved microbial systems and processes, the project will involve advanced soil testing. The testing will give high quality data on the hydromechanical properties and behaviour of biocemented soils. Careful consideration will be given to the behaviour of the soil under unsaturated soil conditions (soil voids partially filled with water) which has not been researched. The data will be interpreted by constitutive modelling of the soil behaviour. The model will be implemented to commercial software, giving researchers and engineers a useful predictive tool for the analysis and design of biocemented soils. Having assessed the technique and the durability of the biocementation in the laboratory, a significant advance of this research will be the pilot application of the technique on actual railway assets, made accessible by a major owner and operator of railway infrastructure. This novel technique is proposed to be environmentally superior to conventional grouts (which are toxic) and other common soil stabilisers, e.g. cement or lime (linked to high CO2 emissions). Overall it is more sustainable because the micro-organisms used are renewable, environmentally friendly and safe (non-pathogenic).
Fields of science (EuroSciVoc)
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
CORDIS classifies projects with EuroSciVoc, a multilingual taxonomy of fields of science, through a semi-automatic process based on NLP techniques. See: The European Science Vocabulary.
- natural sciences computer and information sciences software
- agricultural sciences agriculture, forestry, and fisheries agriculture grains and oilseeds
- natural sciences earth and related environmental sciences atmospheric sciences climatology climatic changes
- natural sciences biological sciences microbiology
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Keywords
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Project’s keywords as indicated by the project coordinator. Not to be confused with the EuroSciVoc taxonomy (Fields of science)
Programme(s)
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
Multi-annual funding programmes that define the EU’s priorities for research and innovation.
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H2020-EU.1.3. - EXCELLENT SCIENCE - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Actions
MAIN PROGRAMME
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H2020-EU.1.3.2. - Nurturing excellence by means of cross-border and cross-sector mobility
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Topic(s)
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Calls for proposals are divided into topics. A topic defines a specific subject or area for which applicants can submit proposals. The description of a topic comprises its specific scope and the expected impact of the funded project.
Funding Scheme
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
Funding scheme (or “Type of Action”) inside a programme with common features. It specifies: the scope of what is funded; the reimbursement rate; specific evaluation criteria to qualify for funding; and the use of simplified forms of costs like lump sums.
MSCA-IF - Marie Skłodowska-Curie Individual Fellowships (IF)
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Call for proposal
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
Procedure for inviting applicants to submit project proposals, with the aim of receiving EU funding.
(opens in new window) H2020-MSCA-IF-2016
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Net EU financial contribution. The sum of money that the participant receives, deducted by the EU contribution to its linked third party. It considers the distribution of the EU financial contribution between direct beneficiaries of the project and other types of participants, like third-party participants.
SE10AA London
United Kingdom
The total costs incurred by this organisation to participate in the project, including direct and indirect costs. This amount is a subset of the overall project budget.