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.
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.
Introduction Evaluating the condition of transportation infrastructure is an expensive, labor intensive, and time consuming process. Many traditional road evaluation methods utilize measurements taken in situ along with visual examinations and interpretations. The measurement of damage and deterioration is often qualitative and limited to point observations. Remote sensing techniques offer nondestructive methods for road condition assessment with large spatial coverage. These tools provide an opportunity for frequent, comprehensive, and quantitative surveys of transportation infrastructure. Methods The goal of this paper is to provide a bridge between traditional procedures for road evaluation and remote sensing methodologies by creating a comprehensive reference for geotechnical engineers and remote sensing experts alike. Results A comprehensive literature review and survey of current techniques and research methods is provided to facilitate this bridge. A special emphasis is given to the E. Schnebele ( ) · G. Cervone · N. Waters
A comparison is made between resilient moduli obtained from (i) a conventional small-scale resilient modulus test, (ii) a large-scale model experiment (LSME), and (iii) a falling weight deflectometer (FWD) in the field. The LSME is a large prototype-scale test simulating a pavement section. The FWD tests were conducted on a highway test section. All tests were conducted on a typical base course material and two granular industrial by-products used as subbase. Relationships between elastic modulus and bulk stress were derived from the LSME data by modeling the set-up as a nonlinear elastic layered system using the computer program KENLAYER. Elastic moduli were back-calculated from the FWD data using the program MODULUS. Reasonable correspondence between the elastic moduli measured at different scales was obtained when empirical corrections were made for strain amplitude using a backbone curve for granular materials and by matching stress levels. However, even when corrections are applied, the low-strain (or maximum) elastic modulus for the industrial byproducts inferred from the laboratory resilient modulus test tends to be lower (by a factor of 1.5 to 4) than the operative elastic modulus inferred from the LSME and the FWD tests. In addition, the minimum bulk stress provided by the laboratory resilient modulus test can be higher than the bulk stress existing in the field. In such cases, the elastic modulus at the field bulk stress can be estimated by extrapolation using a power function.
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