Self Healing Concrete
Concrete will continue to be the most important material used in the construction industry, from the foundation of buildings to the structure of bridges. But most Concrete structures are prone to cracking. Tiny cracks on the surface of concrete make the whole structure vulnerable because water seeps into degrade the concrete and corrode the steel reinforcement, greatly reducing the lifespan of a structure. Hendrik Jonkers, a microbiologist at Delft University has a plan to increase the lifespan of many civil engineering structures. He has worked closely with civil and structural engineering to learn about the properties of concrete and steel reinforcement, and develop the concrete. His innovation, which embeds self-activating limestone-producing bacteria into building material, is designed to decrease the amount of new concrete produced and lower maintenance and repair costs for different types of structures. HOW DOES BIOCONCRETE WORK? Self-healing concrete is a ...