Effect of Ureolytic Bacteria on Compressibility of the Soils with Variable Gradation

Abstract

The aim of this study is to present the effect of treatment with ureolytic bacteria (Sporosarcina pasteurii) on the compressibility parameters of mineral and anthropogenic soils. In the presence of the urease enzyme, secreted by a strain of Sporosarcina pasteurii bacteria, urea hydrolysis occurs, allowing CaCO3 to be precipitated. The literature suggests applying the Microbially Induced Calcite Precipitation (MICP) method to non-cohesive soils. In order to determine whether the biomineralization process occurs in other soil types, cohesive and anthropogenic soils were tested in the laboratory. Compressibility tests were carried out in the laboratory on MICP-treated and untreated soils as reference samples. The process of biocementation in the soil is made possible by the introduction of bacteria into the soil and subsequent activation by a cementation solution (consisting of urea and calcium ions Ca2+). This paper presents the methodology for introducing bacteria into the soil, as well as the effect of the biomineralization process on the deformation parameters of the tested materials.