Abstract: Microbial mineralization is a recently developing new branch in engineering of soil improvement that deals with the application of microbiological activity to improve characteristics of soils. One of the most commonly adopted processes to achieve soil bio-cementation is through microbially induced carbonate precipitation (MICP). This technique utilizes the metabolic behavior of urease bacteria to induce calcite that binds the loose soil particles integrally, leading to increased mechanical properties of soils. This paper systematically introduces the study of MICP about mineralization mechanism of urease bacteria, relative treatment methods, influencing factors, derived new technique (EICP) and relative field trials in geotechnical engineering. The practicability of the MICP is summarized. Finally, the challenges and potential solutions of MICP engineering applications in the current research stage are briefly discussed.

Key words: soil improvement, microbially induced carbonate precipitation, calcite, MICP, EICP