AMNS India Starts Supplying Steel Slag for Vadodara Mumbai Highway
Strategic Research Institute
Published on :
09 Jun, 2022, 8:16 am
18 trucks loaded with 350 tonnes steel slag were flagged off from Hazira by ArcelorMittal Nippon Steel India, which has got its first steel slag order for a national highway project. AM/NS India has received the order to supply steel slag from CR Infra Projects, which was recently awarded the contract by the National Highways Authority of India for the construction of 36.93 kilometers eight-lane access-controlled stretch from Ena to Kim in Surat. The stretch is a part of the upcoming Vadodara Mumbai Expressway. The initial order is for the supply of 10,000 tonnes of steel slag.
The use of steel slag in road construction by building India's first road using 100% steel slag in Hazira was tested successfully. More than 1,200 heavy vehicles ply on the 1.2km road every day, which was opened in May 2021.
Steel slag, a by-product obtained during the primary steel manufacturing process, is now being used to construct roads after multiple trials. Steel slag is an environment-friendly and cost-effective alternative to natural aggregate in road construction and also offers other additional benefits over natural aggregates. It is an ideal aggregate material due to its good shape factor, high abrasion resistance, and excellent skid resistance properties. It also has a higher load-bearing capacity compared to natural aggregates, making it more durable. Moreover, slag is readily available in bulk quantity.
According to the Indian Road Congress guidelines for construction of a heavy traffic road that is capable of taking the load of 1,000 to 1,200 trucks per day, around 600 to 700 mm thickness of road layers are required on the foundation with 8% California Bearing Ratio. CRRI Principal Scientist Mr Satish Pandey had said ealier that the construction cost of the processed steel slag road is 30% cheaper than roads built from natural aggregates as the thickness of the road is 30% lesser than normal ones, while the durability is much longer due to the utilisation of steel slag.