Can the heaps of soil lying idle at mining sites be put to constructive use?
Yes, they can be. That’s what B. Surender Mohan, chief of Neyveli Lignite Corporation (NLC) Limited, thinks.
Addressing a workshop on “Innovative materials and practices in civil construction” held recently at Institution of Engineers (IE), Neyveli Local Centre, the Chairman and Managing Director of NLC suggested that the over burden (soil) that was being dumped in heaps could possibly be used for forming embankment for laying National Highways and railway lines.
Mr. Mohan pointed out that the NLC was now selling various materials of overburden such as silica sand, fire clay and ball clay for manufacturing glass, ceramic and refractory materials respectively. A creative means of clearing the overburden soil from Neyveli would also fetch additional revenue to the company, he said.
On another note, the NLC chief felt that civil engineering should be sustainable and eco-friendly. With the advent of lots of construction activities, time has come to find alternative technologies. On this front, he pointed to the NLC’s R&D initiatives such as using bottom ash as a substitute for river sand and manufacturing fly ash bricks, which served the twin goals of fetching income to the company as well as conserving natural resources.
The workshop was co-hosted by the Civil Engineering Division Board, Institution of Engineers (I) under the aegis of Neyveli Lignite Corporation Limited.
S.K.Acharya, director (HR), stressed the urgency of finding an alternative for sand which was becoming a scarce resource.
