Self-Healing Concrete

Concrete is one of the most important construction materials that's used around the world and is second to water in terms of the most consumed material amazingly twice as much concrete is used in construction than everything else combined this works out to be the equivalent of more than three tons per person in the world each year the problem is that even though it's a tough and durable material it's susceptible to wear and tear and can develop cracks and holes that affect its stability in the long term this means that it either needs to be maintained or replaced to avoid disaster which can be a costly endeavor but researchers have come up with a new solution self-healing concrete by adding bacterial spores to the concrete mix along with a food source like yeast extract an amazing thing happens when the concrete cracks the bacteria are exposed to oxygen and water and begin to consume the food and multiply and then produce calcium carbonate or limestone as a byproduct this in turn seals the crack again and if done right means that you won't even be able to see where the crack had formed in the first place for small openings the process can be completed with around 14 days and it'll prevent them from widening and becoming a greater problem soon it's expected that virtually all concrete will incorporate technology like this and the days of potentially dangerous faults will be over.