Rapid Rehabilitation of Highway Slopes Using Seeded Microbial Bio-Cement

When an intense wildfire occurs, the heat changes the chemical and biological makeup of the soil, impacting the microbial environment and increasing erosion risks that can propagate to devastating mudslides and debris flows.

The TRB Highway Innovations Deserving Exploratory Analysis Program's IDEA Final Report 200: Rapid Rehabilitation of Highway Slopes Using Seeded Microbial Bio-Cement aims to help Department of Transportation managers at all levels who deal with erosion.

The product developed in this research, BioCaN, is a valuable tool to add to the erosion control toolbox. Although not able to be used in every condition, the BioCaN treatment is effective after fires, on sandy soils, on clayey soils, on steep slopes, and on gentle slopes.