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Construction & Environmental Biocementation in REal World Applications

Project description

Nature-inspired ground stabilisation

Ground stabilisation represents an important process in construction. It can alleviate stability risks triggered by earthquakes, soil erosion, ageing infrastructures and landslides. Ground stabilisation is applied to industrial, transport and commercial infrastructures. It is also required for buildings due to the growth of urbanisation, particularly in developing regions. However, mineral additives and stabilising agents that are used today in the ground stabilisation market are hazardous to the environment and expensive in their application as they require heavy equipment. The EU-funded CEBREWA project focuses on bio-mediated, nature-inspired ground reinforcement that is called bio-cementation. It will develop and control the entire industrial-level system that will permit fast and reproducible ground bio-cementation applications.

Objective

CEBREWA (Construction & Environmental Biocementation in REal World Applications) tackles the emerging ground stabilisation problems which are becoming increasingly pressing in construction and environmental engineering. Ground stabilization mitigates stability risks associated with geohazards, such as earthquakes, soil erosion, and landslides. Such problems are expected to be further intensified by extreme weather and aging infrastructure. Traditionally, ground stabilization is applied to roads, railroads, airfields, embankments, reservoirs, bank protection, canals, dams, and coastal engineering. Rapid urbanization, particularly in developing regions, is fuelling the ground stabilization market growth. This is primarily due to: (i) the scarcity of suitable land for development and (ii) the need to extend existing infrastructure (typically by building more floors, and therefore increasing the loads sustained by foundations) to support increasing populations in urban zones. The mineral additives & stabilizing agents segment currently accounts for the largest share in the ground stabilization market. Mineral & stabilizing agents include, amongst others, cement, lime, fly ash, and polyurethane resins. This market has not been disrupted for decades, with current solutions complex and expensive, mainly due to the heavy equipment required for their application, and often hazardous to the environment, as they rely on the extensive use of industrial fluids or microplastics. The ERC-funded project BIOGEOS (grant agreement 788587) focuses on bio-mediated, nature-inspired ground reinforcement (bio-cementation). The goal is to develop and master the complete, industrial-scale system which will allow fast and reproducible ground bio-cementation applications. The PoC is expected to result in IP consolidation, scaling-up of production through outsourcing and demonstration of value created for end-users.

Host institution

ECOLE POLYTECHNIQUE FEDERALE DE LAUSANNE
Net EU contribution
€ 150 000,00
Address
BATIMENT CE 3316 STATION 1
1015 Lausanne
Switzerland

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Region
Schweiz/Suisse/Svizzera Région lémanique Vaud
Activity type
Higher or Secondary Education Establishments
Links
Total cost
No data

Beneficiaries (1)