JONESBORO, Ark. (KAIT) – Just over $200,000 has been awarded to Arkansas State University to help fund research into incorporating different materials to create concrete.

This will be a two-year research project where students will use waste materials to make concrete.

“So there’s a huge possibility of using some of the waste materials as a cementitious material,” said Zahid Hossain, A-State civil engineering professor.

A-State will begin research into the use of waste materials as a substitute for cement and incorporate them into concrete manufacturing.

The grant was awarded to State A by the Arkansas Department of Transportation.

In 2021, a stretch of sidewalk on the A-State campus was used as a test site for concrete waste, and so far it’s worked great.

The material used was reclaimed fly ash, this time the main waste they will experiment with is steel slag.

There are several reasons why they use waste materials as a potential source.

“First, the cost-benefit ratio,” Hossain said. “If we replace cement with waste materials, steel slag, it means huge cost savings. The second thing is that we use less raw materials because there is a limited amount of raw materials.”

To go along with these benefits, it will also create economic opportunities in the steel industry for those who supply steel slag.

Due to the length of the project, A-State students will be able to get involved and play a major role.

“They are the backbone of research at the university,” Hossain said. “So we’ll give them the instructions, come up with the plan and tell them what to do. The actual work will be done by the students.”

Graduate and undergraduate students will take part in this project.

It will open doors for them to attend conferences and present their findings at national and international level.

This will also allow those students to network on a professional level.

As for the project, it is about to start at the beginning of the new year.

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