Steel slag technology can cut road costs by 40 pc, boost strength fourfold: Jitendra Singh
New Delhi, Sept 12 (TNT): Steel slag road technology can reduce road construction costs by around 40 per cent and provide four times the strength of conventional roads, Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Science and Technology Jitendra Singh said on Saturday, calling for its wider adoption across the country.
Addressing a programme here, Singh said the technology could also substantially extend the maintenance cycle, with maintenance required only after about 15 years in suitable applications.
He called for the indigenous technology to be taken from “one project to many projects” and from “one State to many States”, urging its adoption by Railways, other government departments, State governments and private infrastructure developers besides the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways.
Singh was speaking at the conferment of the Guinness World Record for the “World’s Longest Road Built with Processed Steel Slag Aggregates”, achieved for a 1.85-km road at Raigarh in Chhattisgarh jointly pursued by CSIR-Central Road Research Institute (CSIR-CRRI) and Jindal Steel Limited.
The road uses processed steel slag, a by-product of steel production, as aggregates for road construction.
The Union Minister said the initiative reflected the government’s “Waste to Wealth” approach and demonstrated how industrial waste could be converted into infrastructure wealth while conserving natural resources.
He said the technology assumes greater significance in a geographically diverse country like India, particularly in difficult terrain and high-rainfall regions where conventional roads face durability challenges.
Singh also stressed the need for greater awareness among engineers and implementing agencies so that the technology could be assessed and adopted wherever technically and economically suitable.
The programme also witnessed the virtual inauguration of the Raigarh road, release of a scientific documentary, signing of a technology transfer agreement between CSIR-CRRI and Jindal Steel and launch of the “Steel Grit” brand.
CSIR Director General N Kalaiselvi said CSIR-CRRI had received a work order for a 40-km road in Odisha from Jindal Steel’s Angul plant, marking the next major expansion of the technology.
Singh said the Guinness World Record should be seen not as the destination but as the beginning of the next phase of wider adoption of the indigenous technology.
TNT KM
