Microbial degradation of synthetic fibre-reinforced marine concrete

This investigation looked at the microbial degradation of synthetic fibre-reinforced marine concrete. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and energy dispersive X-ray analysis (EDX) of site specimens were used to observe colonisation at the fibre/cement interface. Algal filaments were observed growing between fibre and cement. Microbial filaments were observed entangled with, and adhered to, synthetic fibres. This degradation mechanism occurs when the material bond is weakened as a direct result of the physical activity of an organism, such as its growth. This multidisciplinary study, the first to report the composition of microbial assemblages fouling and degrading synthetic fibres within marine concrete in the United Kingdom, lays the foundation for more study into this new phenomenon.