Bacterial Concrete

          Cracks in concrete are inevitable and are one of the inherent weaknesses of concrete. Water and other salts seep through these cracks, corrosion initiates, and thus reduce the life of concrete. So there was a need to develop an inherent bio material, a self-repairing material which can remediate the cracks and fissures in concrete. Bacterial concrete is a material, which can successfully remediate cracks in concrete. One way to replace costly manual maintenance and repair is to incorporate an autonomous self -healing mechanism in concrete. One such an alternative repair mechanism is currently being studied, i.e. a novel technique based on the application of bio mineralization of bacteria in concrete. The application of calcite mineral precipitating bacteria for concrete repair and plugging of cracks in concrete has proven as a sustainable and self-healing agent and results from ongoing studies are discussed. Synthetic polymers such as epoxy treatment are currently being used for repair of concrete are harmful to the environment, hence use of bacterial concrete is emphasized. It has been found that microbial mineral precipitation resulting from metabolic activities of certain micro organisms in concrete improves the strength and behaviour of the concrete. Thus this paper defines the bacterial concrete, chemical process to fix the cracks by bacteria, advantages and disadvantages and possible applications of MICP    

Keywords—bacterial concrete, MICP, biominerlizaton, synthetic polymers.