IF WATCHING grass grow is a little too slow for your liking, how about watching sand transform into sandstone? Murdoch University researchers have developed new biotechnology capable of producing sandstone within hours, which could potentially revolutionise aspects of the construction industry.

Dr Ed Kucharski from Calcite Technologies and Murdoch University's Dr Ralf Cord-Ruwisch discuss their breakthrough research.

Intensive research found certain micro-organisms, which naturally occur in small quantities in soils, can rapidly turn sand into sandstone when combined with other components. The technology mimics the natural formation of sandstone but enables the process to be accelerated and controlled for commercial applications. It can be applied in situ.

The technology, referred to as "biocement" by researchers, was developed in conjunction with CSIRO's Calcite Technology and GeoDelft, a Dutch government-funded geotechnical engineering institute.

Murdoch University and Calcite Technology have jointly patented the technology which has multiple avenues for commercial exploitation, according to Dr Edward Kucharski of Calcite.

"By putting the right bacterial solutions into the soil, ground or even porous rock you can get the bacteria to build up calcium carbonate or calcite – essentially limestone," Kucharski said.

"The bacteria basically 'cements' the particles together and you can get strengths from this process that are double that of foundation concrete. So the application opportunities – ground improvement, underpinning of houses, tunnel work – are enormously widespread.

"For example, you might be tunnelling in loose ground which can collapse in, so you can inject the bacteria solution beforehand to harden it. You wouldn't want the ground to be too solid for you to tunnel later, but you want enough strength so it doesn't collapse.

"But you can do this with the biocement – you can tailor it to whatever strength you like; time, how much bacteria we put in – there are plenty of factors we can control. It's really about the industry uptake of this product.

"We've actually already been in quite intensive negotiations with international engineering contractors who are very interested in the technology."

GeoDelft, the first company to show significant interest in 2003, has contributed sizable funds to a joint commercialisation strategy for the soil improvement market. GeoDelft's major interest in the product is its potential application in the construction of dykes.

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