About this Research Topic
Growing urbanisation worldwide leads increasingly to construction on inferior ground (e.g. weak natural geomaterials, brownfields, or former waste disposal sites). At the same time, existing earthworks also need to be upgraded to meet future needs and changing environmental loads due to climate change and waste disposal sites hosting hazardous geomaterials (e.g. mine tailings) need to be future-proofed. In his context ground improvement is becoming critically important in engineering practice to mitigate natural and man-made hazards and remediate and valorise contaminated sites and geomaterials or soil-like waste. However conventional ground improvement still relies on carbon-heavy approaches and materials to give control over costs, timelines, and uncertainties.
This special issue aims to attract contributions on recent advances focusing on the development of innovative, superior, cost-effective, low-carbon, and overall more environmentally-friendly and sustainable chemical, or biochemical/biological ground improvement techniques, including nature-based solutions, which is a field of ongoing intensive research effort internationally.
This special issue invites contributions in this important field, focusing in particular on advances in chemical and biological/bio-chemical treatment methods and materials for contaminated sites and geomaterial remediation/valorisation and/or geomaterial stabilisation/engineering property enhancement. Topics include but are not limited to novel/innovative chemical additives (including waste materials), (bio-)polymers, (bio-)surfactants, (bio-)enzymes or cement, for example, alkali-activated cement/ geopolymers or biocements and (bio-)grouts, use of minerals and other biomimetic or nature-based solutions. Both fundamental research and application case studies of recently developed techniques are relevant from procedures and implementation to monitoring performance and quality assessment. Laboratory or field studies, numerical modelling simulating treatment implementation and reaction evolution leading to physicochemical changes in the treated geomaterials, durability and resilience studies, life cycle analysis, and design guidelines as well as methodical literature reviews and outlook on future research directions related to sustainable (bio-) chemical ground improvement practices are all welcome.
This special issue aims to attract contributions on recent advances focusing on the development of innovative, superior, cost-effective, low-carbon, and overall more environmentally-friendly and sustainable chemical, or biochemical/biological ground improvement techniques, including nature-based solutions, which is a field of ongoing intensive research effort internationally.
This special issue invites contributions in this important field, focusing in particular on advances in chemical and biological/bio-chemical treatment methods and materials for contaminated sites and geomaterial remediation/valorisation and/or geomaterial stabilisation/engineering property enhancement. Topics include but are not limited to novel/innovative chemical additives (including waste materials), (bio-)polymers, (bio-)surfactants, (bio-)enzymes or cement, for example, alkali-activated cement/ geopolymers or biocements and (bio-)grouts, use of minerals and other biomimetic or nature-based solutions. Both fundamental research and application case studies of recently developed techniques are relevant from procedures and implementation to monitoring performance and quality assessment. Laboratory or field studies, numerical modelling simulating treatment implementation and reaction evolution leading to physicochemical changes in the treated geomaterials, durability and resilience studies, life cycle analysis, and design guidelines as well as methodical literature reviews and outlook on future research directions related to sustainable (bio-) chemical ground improvement practices are all welcome.
Keywords: Ground Improvement, Remediation, Soil Stabilisation, Geomaterial Treatment, Valorisation
Important Note: All contributions to this Research Topic must be within the scope of the section and journal to which they are submitted, as defined in their mission statements. Frontiers reserves the right to guide an out-of-scope manuscript to a more suitable section or journal at any stage of peer review.
