Utilization of Industrial Waste in Highway Construction

The recent developments and application in the use of advanced composites in the improvement of soil are increasing on the basis of specific requirements and national needs. Particularly for the black cotton soils which have high swelling and shrinkage tendencies, demands great deal of attention for stabilization. Variety of materials are used for improving the soil ranging from wood-ash, fly ash, acrylic resins, many fiber polymers, lime etc. As a further step towards the innovative materials to be used for the stabilization, this study endeavour to use waste material (copper slag) for the soil improvement. Total generation of copper slag is about 24.6 million tone throughout the world. Disposal of such huge quantities of slag cause environmental problems. The utilization of such waste materials in road construction is significant importance in the country. The bulk utilization of these wastes not only solves the disposal problem of the industries but also protects the environment. The study discusses the physical, chemical and geotechnical properties of copper slag.