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Saturday, September 5, 2026 · UTC
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1972 Illinois Expressway Project Proves Coal Fly Ash Safe for Highway Construction

Long-term monitoring of a 1972 Illinois expressway confirms coal fly ash is a stable alternative to traditional soil fills.

TruthFoundry Desk
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In 1972, civil engineers in northern Illinois used 246,000 cubic yards of coal fly ash to construct the core of a 7,500-foot expressway embankment near Waukegan along US Route 41. [1] Long-term monitoring of the Waukegan project found no evidence of structural settlement, frost heave, or problems caused by rising groundwater. [2] In 2002, almost 300 tons of crushed glass were used as fill material for a 200-foot section of Idaho Highway 75 near Ketchum. [3] The Federal Highway Administration included the Waukegan project in its detailed user guidelines for highway construction. [4] The project demonstrated that fine ash from coal-fired power plants could replace traditional soil and aggregate used as backfill in highway construction. [5] The glass fill was placed in an 8-to-12-inch layer beneath the road surface during a $5.6 million highway reconstruction project. [6] The Federal Highway Administration states that properly sized and processed cullet can behave similarly to gravel or sand. [7] The glass material was sourced from the Ohio Gulch Recycling Center in the Wood River Valley. [8]
What this stands on
  1. In 1972, civil engineers in northern Illinois used 246,000 cubic yards of coal fly ash to construct the core of a 7,500-foot expressway embankment near Waukegan along US Route 41. · The Times Of India
  2. Long-term monitoring of the Waukegan project found no evidence of structural settlement, frost heave, or problems caused by rising groundwater. · The Times Of India
  3. In 2002, almost 300 tons of crushed glass were used as fill material for a 200-foot section of Idaho Highway 75 near Ketchum. · Space Daily
  4. The Federal Highway Administration included the Waukegan project in its detailed user guidelines for highway construction. · The Times Of India
  5. The project demonstrated that fine ash from coal-fired power plants could replace traditional soil and aggregate used as backfill in highway construction. · The Times Of India
  6. The glass fill was placed in an 8-to-12-inch layer beneath the road surface during a $5.6 million highway reconstruction project. · Space Daily
  7. The Federal Highway Administration states that properly sized and processed cullet can behave similarly to gravel or sand. · Space Daily
  8. The glass material was sourced from the Ohio Gulch Recycling Center in the Wood River Valley. · Space Daily
We could not place any of them by their address. None is an official body: that part stands on reporting, not on the underlying document or transcript.
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