Mechanics, Modeling, and Upscaling of Biocemented Soils: A Review of Breakthroughs and Challenges

Biogeotechnical research has inspired revolutionary ideas to claim the status of a distinctive branch of geotechnical engineering. Most notably, underground carbonate mineralization, most commonly referred to as microbially induced carbonate precipitation (MICP), has been seen as a promising solution to mitigate multiple problems, most notably increasing the bearing capacity of soils, slope stabilization, liquefaction mitigation, and erosion protection. To date, it is fair to say that MICP has moved past the proof-of-concept phase and is growing in terms of technology readiness. In this work, a comprehensive review is provided, ranging from MICP's core fundamentals to recent breakthroughs and milestones, specifically targeting three core axes, namely, the achieved mechanical performance, modeling approaches, and upscaling considerations. From the return of experience in over two decades of research and considering the most recent opportunities and challenges, this review covers more than 150 articles published after 2019, introduces a synthesis of the trends in mechanical performance captured for biocemented materials, and concludes with a holistic overview of the future prospects of biocementation.