How Steel Slag Is Helping BRO Build Long Lasting Roads Along China Border For Movement Of Army's Heavy Equipment

NITI Aayog member, V K Saraswat, has expressed his admiration for the CSIR-CRRI steel slag road technology, which is proving to be highly beneficial for the Border Roads Organisation (BRO) in constructing long-lasting, heavy-duty roads in strategically significant border regions.

Saraswat, who has served as the Director General of the Defence Research and Development Organisation in the past, was inspecting a one km stretch of the Joram-Koloriang steel slag road built by BRO in Arunachal Pradesh, along with a team from CSIR-Central Road Research Institute, BRO, Tata Steel, and Lower Subansiri Deputy Commissioner, Bamin Nime.

BRO's Project Arunanak Division, in collaboration with CSIR-Central Road Research Institute in New Delhi, has successfully constructed a one-kilometer section of steel slag road using processed steel slag aggregates provided by Tata Steel's Jamshedpur plant.

The project involved the transportation of approximately 1,200 metric tonnes of processed steel slag aggregates from Jamshedpur to Itanagar by railway, and then from Itanagar to the project site near Ziro in the Lower Subansiri district by road.

According to Satish Pandey, Principal Scientist at the Central Road Research Institute (CRRI) and inventor of the steel slag road technology, the steel slag waste generated by manufacturing units is being repurposed as processed steel slag aggregates to create a 40mm thick bituminous surfacing on the roads being constructed by BRO.

The utilization of steel slag in bituminous surfacing offers a more durable and robust heavy-duty road surface, owing to its innate strength and stiffness, Pandey says. This steel slag bituminous surfacing is expected to withstand inclement weather conditions in the region, providing a reliable road surface for the movement of Indian Army troops and equipment.