CSIR campus to have tougher, thinner steel slag roads

Chandigarh, March 18

Two laboratories of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR) will be the first locations in the city to have roads constructed with steel slag, a byproduct waste in the production of steel.

Due to its superior structural stiffness, steel slag roads are expected to be 30% thinner than conventional roads, thereby enhancing durability and sustainability. It is produced during the separation of molten steel from impurities in steel-making furnaces and largely composed metallic and silica oxides.

The use of steel slag will help to effectively manage millions of tonnes of steel slag accumulated in the steel hub of Mandi Gobindgarh in Punjab, in an environmentally friendly and productive manner.

A team from the CSIR’s Central Road Research Institute (CRRI), headed by its director Prof Manoranjan Parida, visited the CSIO and the Institute of Microbial Technology (IMTECH) here. Discussions were held on the modalities of constructing such roads with Dr Sanjeev Khosla, Director IMTECH, and Dr Satish Kumar, acting Director and Chief Scientist at CSIO.

The inception of India’s maiden steel slag road at Hazira in Surat in April 2022 marked a significant milestone in the use of the alternative material for road construction. The National Highways Authority of India has embraced this innovative technology for the construction of a steel slag road section on Mumbai to Goa highway.

For the development of steel slag roads at the CSIO and IMTECH, steel slag available at the Mandi Gobindgarh steel plant will be harnessed. This endeavour is facilitated by a memorandum of understanding signed between Arjas Steel and CRRI, focusing on the implementation of steel slag road technology at the respective campuses.