The Hindu : Other States / Pondicherry News : Roads using flyash a success

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Jan 28, 2005

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Other States - Pondicherry

Roads using flyash a success

By Our Staff Reporter

VELLORE, JAN. 27. Experiments conducted by the Department of Civil Engineering of the Vellore Institute of Technology (VIT) on use of alternatives to river sand for road construction on the campus have led to considerable savings besides providing an effective solution to the environmental problem.

S.K. Sekar of the Department of Civil Engineering carried out an investigation on various properties of industrial wastes such as fly ash, foundry waste sand and quarry dust and their suitability in place of sand.

A low-cost Plain Cement Concrete (PCC) road was laid for one km, using foundry waste sand.

The idea of using this waste sand was born out of the need to find an alternative to river sand as well as to solve the problem of disposal of waste sand from the nearly 4700 foundries in India.

They generate about 50 lakh tonnes of waste sand every year, causing land, air and ground water pollution.

According to Prof. Sekar, most of the foundry waste sand is land-filled and sometimes used as a supplemental cover material at land fill sites, causing ground water pollution.

In Vellore district alone, the foundries located at Ranipet, Kaniyambadi and Sholinghur produced 0.80 lakh tonnes of waste sand per year.

The foundry waste sand has been used in the VIT as a substitute for fine aggregate (river sand) in base course and wearing course of PCC paving mixes. The PCC pavement was laid after conducting adequate number of tests at laboratories.

A sum of Rs.22,775 was saved in the construction of one km length of PCC road, using foundry waste sand.

Since the concept was new, the VIT was planning to apply for patent for this work.

The VIT also used flyash, which was a by-product of the combustion of pulverized coal in thermal power plants.

The Department of Civil Engineering has also successfully completed a project, funded by M/s.Samco Metals and Alloys Pvt. Ltd., Kaniyambadi, to develop the country bricks and hollow blocks by using the waste materials from their industry.

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