Roadside Dust-Amended Novel Burnt Clay Brick

Solapur is one of the important cities of western Maharashtra. Agroclimatically entire district and Solapur city come under rain shadow area. Rainfall is uncertain and scanty. Solapur is declared as a smart city under Phase I (Solapur City Action Plan, Revised action plan for control of air pollution in Solapur. Maharashtra Pollution Control Board [MPCB], pp 4–8, 2004) but on the other hand, it is also included in the most polluted in terms of particulate pollution. A few of the major factors responsible for increased air pollution are the large number of vehicles, dry weather, and road conditions. As a result, a lot of dust accumulates on roadsides. The municipal corporation collects this dust and throws it at the outskirts of the city to fill low-lying areas. Therefore, a study was undertaken to utilize this roadside dust in burnt clay bricks. Base material (BM)(Soil) and roadside dust (RD) were analysed in the laboratory for their physical properties like density, specific gravity, liquid limit, etc. Chemical characterization was done using ICP-AES, and TG-DTA at IITB and SIT Cochin. ICP AES analysis suggested that roadside dust could be amended in base material for the manufacturing of burnt clay bricks. Iron, aluminium, and silica are the main ingredients found in BM and RD contributing towards the strength of burnt clay bricks. BM was replaced by RD % by weight up to 70%. Fired clay bricks were tested for compressive strength and water absorption. All trial bricks satisfied water absorption criteria of less than 20% value and bricks with 35% RD gave maximum compressive strength, i.e. over 30 N/mm2. This study will help the municipal corporation to solve the problem of roadside dust and reduce particulate pollution in Solapur city along with soil conservation.