diff --git a/.travis.yml b/.travis.yml
index ed3f78174f5920875d13ba1223fbef179922cd6f..f946857b9678a88d319a7fca20ad50de4e87e8d0 100644
--- a/.travis.yml
+++ b/.travis.yml
@@ -8,16 +8,10 @@ compiler:
 addons:
   apt:
     sources:
-      - boost-latest
       - ubuntu-toolchain-r-test
       # TODO: feelpp/petsc
     packages:
       - g++-4.8
-      - libboost1.55-dev
-      - libboost-date-time1.55-dev
-      - libboost-filesystem1.55-dev
-      - libboost-program-options1.55-dev
-      - libboost-system1.55-dev
       - qt4-dev-tools
       - libxt-dev
       # TODO
@@ -33,18 +27,21 @@ cache:
   directories:
     - $HOME/cmake-3.1.1-Linux-x86_64
     - $HOME/VTK-Install
+    - $HOME/boost_1_56_0
 
 env:
   global:
-    - VTK_DIR=VTK-Install/lib/cmake/vtk-6.3
+    - VTK_DIR=$HOME/VTK-Install/lib/cmake/vtk-6.3
+    - BOOST_ROOT=$HOME/boost_1_56_0
   matrix:
-    - CASE=CLI CMAKE_ARGS="-DOGS_BUILD_GUI=OFF -DOGS_BUILD_UTILS=ON -DVTK_DIR=$HOME/$VTK_DIR"
+    - CASE=CLI CMAKE_ARGS="-DOGS_BUILD_GUI=OFF -DOGS_BUILD_UTILS=ON"
     # - CASE=CLI_PETSC CMAKE_ARGS="-DOGS_BUILD_GUI=OFF -DOGS_BUILD_UTILS=OFF -DOGS_USE_PETSC=ON -DPETSC_DIR=/usr/lib/petscdir/3.4.2/"
-    - CASE=GUI CMAKE_ARGS="-DOGS_BUILD_GUI=ON -DOGS_BUILD_CLI=OFF -DOGS_BUILD_TESTS=OFF -DVTK_DIR=$HOME/$VTK_DIR"
+    - CASE=GUI CMAKE_ARGS="-DOGS_BUILD_GUI=ON -DOGS_BUILD_CLI=OFF -DOGS_BUILD_TESTS=OFF"
 
 before_install:
   - bash scripts/travis/cmake.sh
   - bash scripts/travis/vtk.sh
+  - bash scripts/travis/boost.sh
 
 before_script:
   - export PATH=$HOME/cmake-3.1.1-Linux-x86_64/bin:$PATH
diff --git a/Applications/ApplicationsLib/CMakeLists.txt b/Applications/ApplicationsLib/CMakeLists.txt
index 540357b05ea3e92e7337ecc13213e086cdfc09c7..a19c38f0e63605a81dda4913a811974598a5b862 100644
--- a/Applications/ApplicationsLib/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/Applications/ApplicationsLib/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -17,3 +17,6 @@ ADD_VTK_DEPENDENCY(ApplicationsLib)
 if(TARGET Eigen)
 	add_dependencies(ApplicationsLib Eigen)
 endif()
+if(TARGET Boost)
+	add_dependencies(ApplicationsLib Boost)
+endif()
diff --git a/scripts/cmake/ExternalProjectBoost.cmake b/scripts/cmake/ExternalProjectBoost.cmake
index 2afa6ce43367fad64dce881ee227b8dfbeb14e6c..0798cca6c9cc87d0db3e63b9be952fba0cf2fc55 100644
--- a/scripts/cmake/ExternalProjectBoost.cmake
+++ b/scripts/cmake/ExternalProjectBoost.cmake
@@ -5,6 +5,10 @@ if(Boost_FOUND)
 	return()
 endif()
 
+if(NOT DEFINED BOOST_ROOT AND DEFINED ENV{BOOST_ROOT})
+	set(BOOST_ROOT $ENV{BOOST_ROOT} TRUE CACHE PATH "")
+endif()
+
 # First check for system boost
 if(NOT Boost_INCLUDE_DIRS)
 	if(APPLE)
@@ -41,6 +45,5 @@ ExternalProject_Get_Property( Boost source_dir )
 
 if(NOT Boost_INCLUDE_DIRS)
 	set( Boost_INCLUDE_DIRS ${source_dir} CACHE INTERNAL "Boost include directories")
-	# On Visual Studio Boost libs get automatically linked
 	message(STATUS "Downloading Boost ${OGS_BOOST_VERSION} automatically.")
 endif()
diff --git a/scripts/travis/boost.sh b/scripts/travis/boost.sh
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..f5d0f88ca8d924c9415adfe98f9ebda8d87609a7
--- /dev/null
+++ b/scripts/travis/boost.sh
@@ -0,0 +1,11 @@
+#!/bin/sh
+set -e
+# check to see if boost folder is empty
+if [ ! -d "$HOME/boost_1_56_0/boost" ]; then
+	TAR="boost_1_56_0.tar.gz"
+	cd $HOME
+	curl -L -o $TAR http://sourceforge.net/projects/boost/files/boost/1.56.0/$TAR/download;
+	tar -xzf $TAR;
+else
+	echo 'Using cached boost directory.';
+fi
diff --git a/scripts/travis/cmake.sh b/scripts/travis/cmake.sh
index 66e68ffffe47a2ad0ec88ee3fd2991254498a8f8..bd2827abe1af23a7e8f1b59e838c14c75458fb35 100644
--- a/scripts/travis/cmake.sh
+++ b/scripts/travis/cmake.sh
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@ if [ ! -d "$HOME/cmake-3.1.1-Linux-x86_64/bin" ]; then
 	CMAKE_TAR="cmake-3.1.1-Linux-x86_64.tar.gz"
 	cd $HOME
 	curl -L -o $CMAKE_TAR http://www.cmake.org/files/v3.1/$CMAKE_TAR;
-	tar -xzvf $CMAKE_TAR;
+	tar -xzf $CMAKE_TAR;
 else
 	echo 'Using cached cmake directory.';
 fi