QuoteUniversity of Newcastle building scientists have developed a means of repairing damaged or deteriorated concrete using a genetically engineered strain of a common soil bacteria

http://www.ecogeek.org/weird-stuff/3350-using-bacteria-to-heal-cracked-concrete?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+EcoGeek+%28EcoGeek%29

that's gonna save them a fortune - most of Newcastle is cracked concrete

call me cynical but there are no photos showing a crack being filled with the method, I have been pouring concrete for over 30 years and my honest opinion is this is utter bullshit

I would like to see images of cracks being filled under electron microscopes. Then chevron bend tests on a statistically significant number of samples.

>>cynical

I just knew it wouldn't help my driveway.   

just logic and common sense tells you this can't work

what happens when its filled the crack, what stops it from adding more to the concrete forming a lump on the surface ?

say the crack is half an inch wide in places but only a quarter on an inch in other parts whats going to stop it from growing ?

I think the image they've got with the story is giving the wrong impression. As I read it, this is about fixing small cracks deep inside a large structure, and stopping them turning into half inch cracks in the first place, not slopping the stuff over a ruined driveway, and watching it reknit itself.

>> what happens when its filled the crack, what stops it from adding more to the concrete forming a lump on the surface?

Actually, that at least is probably surprisingly easy. Cells already know how to do that. It's the reason your arms and legs are roughly the same length, despite the cells in one not "knowing" what the cells in the other are doing

QuoteIt's the reason your arms and legs are roughly the same length

Aw come on Brendon, you surely can't believe that living as close to Norfolk as you do.

>>>living as close to Norfolk as you do

especially when most people in that part of the country have 3 nipples and 6 toes

>Using Bacteria to Heal

And haven't we all seen the late-night movie where the bacteria mutates and starts eating foundations and support columns?