Calcareous sands have abundant intraparticle pores and are prone to particle breakage. This often leads to poor engineering properties, which poses a challenge to coastal infrastructure construction. A study using bio-cementation to improve the engineering properties of calcareous sand is presented in this paper. The macro- and microscopic properties of bio-cemented calcareous sand were characterized by drained triaxial tests and scanning electron microscopy observations. Experimental results show that the precipitated calcium carbonate can effectively fill the intra- and interparticle pores and bond adjacent particles, thus enhancing the shear strength of calcareous sand. The special structures (e.g. abundant intraparticle pores and rough surface) and mineral components (i.e. calcium carbonate) of calcareous sand are beneficial for improving bacterial retention in soil, which leads to a relatively uniform and dense calcium carbonate distribution on the sand particle surface, exhibiting a layer-by-layer growth pattern. This growth pattern and the abundant interparticle pores would result in less effective calcium carbonate. The strength enhancement of bio-cemented calcareous sand is significantly lower than that of bio-cemented silica sand at the same calcium carbonate content, which may be caused by the differences in the following: (a) soil skeleton strength; (b) the amount of effective calcium carbonate; and (c) interparticle pore-filling of calcium carbonate.

Calcareous sand, a special type of sand commonly used for the construction of coastal engineering in tropical coasts, is usually required to be strengthened due to its poor engineering mechanical properties. Microbially induced carbonate precipitation has been proved to be a promising method for this purpose. A higher cementation level generally leads to a greater strength enhancement, but tends to cause brittle failure of bio-cemented calcareous sand, which in turn brings great potential risks for the coastal engineering. Therefore, the shear behaviour, especially the brittle behaviour, of bio-cemented calcareous sand needs to be understood properly, and taking some measures to improve its brittle behaviour is also necessary. In this regard, a series of triaxial compression tests were conducted to study the shear behaviour of bio-cemented calcareous sand with various cementation levels, and the waste rubber particles are used to improve the brittle behaviour of bio-cemented calcareous sand. The test results show that the shear strength of bio-cemented calcareous sand increases with the increase in cementation level, and the brittle behaviour is significant gradually. The waste rubber particles contribute to improve the brittle behaviour of bio-cemented calcareous sand, reducing the dilation of bio-cemented calcareous sand and slowing the changes in dilatancy with the increment of stress.