MICP Applications for Geotechnical Infrastucture Concrete (MAGIC)

Concrete is of fundamental importance to construction, a sector that provides 18 million jobs and makes up to 9% of EU’s GDP. It is thus not surprising that European countries invest billions of euros each year in maintaining and repairing concrete infrastructure. A major reason for concrete repair is the development of cracks, which lead to poor durability of concrete or its reinforcement. Many concrete structures are partly or fully embedded in the ground (e.g. foundations, tunnels, sheet pile walls). Detecting or repairing cracks in structures embedded in the ground is difficult; therefore, developing concretes that can self-heal/repair when cracks form is very useful for geotechnical infrastructure applications. MAGIC is an interdisciplinary project that aims to realise self-healing concrete structures for ground engineering applications, using novel biobased processes. The techniques developed in MAGIC will be tested both in the laboratory and in the field and will be evaluated in terms of sustainability. The proposed research addresses the environmental impact and costs of infrastructure maintenance, in line with the European Green Deal and EU priorities for decarbonisation, green and resilient civil infrastructure, resource efficiency and waste minimisation.