The use of wood in geotechnical applications has seen renewed interest. However, concerns related to the durability and service life of wood in ground contact applications remain. Wood has the potential to substitute commonly used steel and concrete in the geotechnical engineering sector, but solutions to extending the service life and maintenance intervals require long-lasting wood protection systems capable of inhibiting fungal and bacterial decay. Cement, one of the constituents of concrete was identified as a potential coating material for wood used in soil stabilisation works. Spruce and beech wood rest rolls from commercial veneer peeling has been identified as a potential source for cement-coated geotechnical wood products. Norway spruce and European beech wood was subsequently used in this study. In this study, a series of tests related to dimensional stability and fungal durability were undertaken to investigate the adhesion of a cement coating to wood and to assess the effect of a cement coating on the resistance to fungal decay. Swelling and shrinkage tests of uncoated specimens were undertaken to investigate dimensional stability. Laboratory fungal durability tests assessed changes in wood durability of specimens coated with a novel, flexural cement coating. Wood impregnated with Polyethyleneglycol-dimethacrylate (PEGDMA) prior to cement coating was investigated to improve wood dimensional stability and reduce cracking of the cement coating under changing wood moisture conditions. Cement coating thickness and delamination tests then assessed the durability of the novel cement coating itself. Results from fungal durability tests showed that a continuous, flexural, and crack-free cement coating was imperative to a wood durability improvement. Double cement-coated spruce wood showed improved resistance to decay by basidiomycetes (Coniphora puteana and Trametes versicolor). Results from swelling and shrinkage tests showed that an improvement in dimensional stability would assist in achieving a durable cement coating and impregnation with Polyethyleneglycol-dimethacrylate (PEGDMA) is one manner to improve dimensional stability and therefore cement adhesion to the wood substrate.

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