Description du projet
Une stabilisation des sols inspirée de la nature
La stabilisation des sols est un des processus clés de la construction. Son objectif est d’atténuer les risques liés à la stabilité déclenchés par de potentiels tremblements de terre, l’érosion des sols, le vieillissement des infrastructures et les glissements de terrain. La stabilisation des sols s’applique à la fois aux infrastructures industrielles, de transport et commerciales, et s’avère également nécessaire pour les bâtiments en raison de l’urbanisation croissante, en particulier dans les régions en développement. Cependant, les additifs minéraux et les agents stabilisateurs utilisés aujourd’hui sur ce marché sont non seulement dangereux pour l’environnement, mais également coûteux, car leur application nécessite des équipements lourds. Le projet CEBREWA, financé par l’UE, mettra l’accent sur un renforcement des sols via un procédé écologique inspiré de la nature appelé bio-cimentation. Il développera et contrôlera l’ensemble du dispositif à l’échelle industrielle afin de rendre possibles des applications de bio-cimentation des sols à la fois rapides et reproductibles.
Objectif
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.
Champ scientifique
Programme(s)
Régime de financement
ERC-POC - Proof of Concept GrantInstitution d’accueil
1015 Lausanne
Suisse