Abstract:
Concrete is one of the most commonly utilized building materials in construction projects around
the globe. It is used in building foundations, columns, beams, slabs, shear walls, and other load
bearing elements. Concrete structures have cracks that are a cause of concern for governments,
project owners and final users. However, bacterial concrete is considered to be one of the best
solutions to avoid the repair aspects of concrete due to its self-healing ability. Yet, few studies
have been conducted on the effect of E. Coli bacteria on concrete. There is also a dearth of studies
that experimentally examine the viability of E. Coli bacteria as a crack healing measure.
Accordingly, the aim of this study was to experimentally investigate the viability of using E. Coli
bacteria as a crack healing measure in concrete. In this respect, the impact of E. Coli bacteria in
different percentages of E. coli bacteria was investigated by applying experimental techniques
such as the slump and density tests on fresh concrete, compressive test, sorptivity test, water
absorption test, temperature test, and crack healing test on hardened properties of concrete. The
findings of the study revealed that E. Coli bacteria considerably minimizes concrete's drawbacks
by precipitating calcium carbonate which heals cracks. Besides, it was found that in comparison
to conventional concrete, concrete containing E. Coli bacteria has a higher potential for self
healing, greater compressive strength, greater temperature resistance, and lower water
absorption. In particular, concrete containing 3 percent E. Coli bacteria improves compressive
strength better than concrete containing 5 percent and 1 percent E. Coli bacteria. The concrete
with 5 percent of E. Coli bacteria heals the crack in a shorter period of time but it results in lower
compressive strength than the concrete with 3 percent of E. Coli bacteria. Thus, the concrete
containing present E. Coli bacteria is less preferable to the concrete with 3 percent E. Coli
bacteria in terms of improving compressive strength.
