He emphasised that using alternative road materials like processed steel slag aggregates in place of natural aggregates for road construction to conserve ecology and mountainous topography in hilly states like Arunachal Pradesh.
The Niti Aayog member said Prime Minister Narendra Modi had appreciated this road project and complimented all stakeholders involved in implementation of the project.
The 1-km steel slag road section is constructed by BRO’s Project Arunanak Division under CSIR-Central Road Research Institute, New-Delhi using processed steel slag aggregates supplied by TATA Steel Jamshedpur plant.
Around 1,200 MT processed steel slag aggregates were transported from Jamshedpur to Itanagar by railways and then from Itanagar to project site near Ziro in Lower Subansiri district by road.
Central Road Research Institute (CRRI) Principal Scientist and inventor of steel slag road technology Satish Pandey said that waste product of steel manufacturing units called steel slag is utilized in the form of processed steel slag aggregates to construct 40 mm thick bituminous surfacing on the BRO stretch.
Steel slag bituminous surfacing due to its inherent high strength and stiffness will offer a more durable heavy duty road surface in face of inclement weather conditions in the region, he said. Project Arunank Chief Engineer Brig A S Kanwar highlighted the various technological initiatives of BRO across various border states including Arunachal Pradesh.
He reiterated that it was the initiative of BRO Director General Lt Gen Rajeev Chaudhary to introduce environment friendly new technologies and the use of steel slag for road construction was taken up under the aegis of Niti Aayog as an inter-ministerial collaboration task between Ministries of Defence, Science and Technology, Steel and Indian Railways.
Saraswat lauded the BRO for their path breaking work in the service of nation in extremely difficult terrain and weather conditions. He also appreciated the collaborative initiatives between the BRO, CRRI-CSIR, Indian Railway and Tata Steel to produce wealth from waste in line with the vision of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to convert waste to wealth.
CRRI Director Manoranjan Parida informed that under CSIR-CRRI technological guidance, steel slag road technology is well tested in multiple projects across India.
CSIR-CRRI had built first steel slag road at Hazira in Surat, second at NH-33 Jamshedpur and third steel slag road was recently completed at NH-66 Mumbai to Goa Highway at Maharashtra.