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New Delhi, January 13, 2024: India’s First National Highway Steel Slag Road section on NH- 66 Mumbai-Goa National Highway was inaugurated today.
The Steel Slag Road Technology, developed by CSIR-Central Road Research Institute (CSIR-CRRI) is transforming the waste of steel industries into wealth and is helping the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) to build stronger and eco-friendly national highways in the country, after inaugurating the road Member (S&T) of the NITI AAYOG Dr V.K. Saraswat said.
JSW Steel, under the CSIR-CRRI technological guidance, has constructed the 1 km long four lane steel slag road section on Indapur-Panvel Section of NH-66 Mumbai-Goa.
For construction of this road around 80,000 tons of CONARC Steel slag were converted as processed steel slag aggregates at JSW Steel Dolvi, Raigad plant. The processed steel slag aggregates are superior to natural aggregates in terms of various mechanical properties and utilized for steel slag road construction in all layers of the road in place of natural aggregates, official sources said.
The road has bituminous and cement concrete steel slag road section at same location in RHS and LHS carriageways. On this road section, the processed steel slag aggregates and slag cement have been utilized for construction of the cement concrete road in all layers.
G S Rathore, Chief Operating Officer, JSW Steel Ltd appreciated the efforts put in by CSIR-CRRI and the support JSW Steel Ltd received from NHAI in making this project a success.
Dr Manoranjan Parida, Director, CSIR-CRRI said that CSIR-CRRI, under a sponsored research project of Ministry of Steel, is developing national guidelines for utilization of processed steel slag in steel slag road construction. He further added that CSIR-CRRI in collaboration with different steel industries has successfully utilized steel slag in road construction at Gujarat, Jharkhand and Arunachal Pradesh.
The steel slag road section is known for its novel technological features and exceptional performance, and garnered appreciation from the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI), said NHAI Regional Officer, Mumbai and Chief General Manager, Anshumali Srivastava.
The bituminous steel slag road on NH-66 is built with 28 per cent less thickness in comparison to conventional bituminous road on NH-66 and while cement concrete section is built at identical thickness, said Satish Pandey, Principal Scientist CSIR-CRRI and Project Leader of the Steel Slag Road project. Both the road sections i.e. bituminous and cement concrete are around 32 per cent economical in comparison to conventional roads and found to have better durability, he added.
