Form. 1
PAPER RE-EVALUATION SHEET
No.
Paper Title
: B14023-01
:
C. Comment about the paper (Use additional sheet, if necessary).
The paper has been revised accordingly. However, there are still some mistakes (active versus
passive, missing verb, etc.) (please see the comments written on the paper  written in red color
letters). In addition, some statements in the paper are not accurate. Because of those, the paper still
needs some revisions.
Please also add the following in the paper:
1. The mechanism to protect the bacteria in high alkaline environment in the concrete.
Please just refer to references you may have read especially to justify the statement we have
made in the paper “Bacterial spores at concentration of 104, 105, and 106 cells/ml were
directly added into pulverized fly ash as medium to protect bacteria in mortar mixture in
high alkaline condition”.
2. Comparison of measured pH for mortar with and without bacteria.
We did not measure the mortar pH for comparison
3. How the authors control the load in the post peak regime for bending test?
The post peak regime for bending test was controlled by using 2 of 1 mm diameter wire in
test specimens to avoid brittle mechanism.
4. It is mentioned in page 9 that urea compound used is an organic materials. It is also known
that organic materials may retard cement reaction. How the authors control this in their
experiment?
The effects of urea compound as organic material on the mortar or cement hydration process
need further study. However in fact the compressive strength of bacterial mortars are higher
than the control mortar.
5. Please mention the test specifications (ASTM or EN or else) used for all the tests conducted
in this study.


ASTM C-109/C109M, Standard Test Method for Compressive Strength of Hydraulic Cement
Mortars (Using 2-in. or 50-mm Cube Specimens), West Conshohocken, Pennsylvania, USA,
2002.
ASTM C-348, Standard Test Method for Flexural Strength of Hydraulic-Cement Mortars, West
Conshohocken, Pennsylvania, USA, 2002.
6. Please also add comment on the results of percentage of precipitate shown in Table 6.
The calcite covers on the cracks did not follow a particular pattern, except the tendency of calcite
formed at the bottom and top of the crack. In general, the higher of the cracks depth the smaller of
the percentage of precipitate. This may due to some factors such as the influence of gravity, and the
basic nature of the aerobic bacteria. The aerobic bacterial mostly deposited on the mortar surface
because it is easier to get supply of oxygen.
7. How long the bacteria can survive in hardened mortar?
This needs further study.
Signature of reviewer:
(Iswandi Imran)
D. Note from the editors