Year
2023
Season
Spring
Paper Type
Master's Thesis
College
College of Computing, Engineering & Construction
Degree Name
Master of Science in Civil Engineering (MSCE)
Department
Engineering
NACO controlled Corporate Body
University of North Florida. School of Engineering
First Advisor
Dr. Raphael Crowley, Ph.D., P.E.
Second Advisor
Dr. Terri N. Ellis, PhD
Third Advisor
Dr. Brian Wingender, PhD
Fourth Advisor
Dr. Ryan M. Shamet, PhD, P.E.
Department Chair
Dr. Alan Harris
College Dean
Dr. John Kantner
Abstract
Over the last 10 years microbially induced calcite precipitation (MICP) has emerged as a possible solution to reduce shoreline erosion. To date, most MICP soil treatments that have been studied involve column injection using a pump. In recent years, MICP application through surface percolation has gained traction as an alternative technique, but data using this technique are limited. More recently, a new treatment recipe/technique was developed, and this technique was termed “bioslurry”. Like most MICP studies research with bioslurry concentrated on the column injection method, and surface percolation has received very limited attention. This paper discusses the treatment of Florida beach sand by surface percolating bioslurry. Researchers experimented with variations of the bioslurry recipe to optimize erosion resistance, which was assessed using a pocket erodometer combined with physical measurements. Some specimens that performed well were further tested using a piston-style erosion rate testing instrument. In addition, treated specimen morphology was preliminarily examined using x-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy. Results showed that erosion resistance was maximized when 15% to 25% of the specimens’ pore volumes were filled with bioslurry. Results were surprising in the sense that applying a 1.5 M to 2.5 M cementation solution in combination with the bioslurry treatment produced better results than both 1 M and 4 M solutions. Finally, we note that previous researchers always used a relatively long (i.e., ~12 hour) stir time when preparing bioslurry. Results presented here show that it may be possible to produce comparable data with much shorter stir times (i.e., 1 to 2 hours).
Suggested Citation
Schmillen, Peter E., "Assessing erosion improvement in beach sand treated with bioslurry" (2023). UNF Graduate Theses and Dissertations. 1180.
https://digitalcommons.unf.edu/etd/1180