nd steel slag aggregate for use in
Portland cement concrete (PCC) and hot-mix asphalt (HMA) mixtures, where allowed.
2.0
PURPOSE
The purpose of this policy is to establish a quality control procedure to control specific
gravity/absorption and collect deleterious content information on ACBF and steel slag
prior to shipment to Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) contracts for use in
PCC or HMA mixtures.
3.0
SAMPLING/TESTING PERSONNEL
All sampling and testing shall be conducted by an Aggregate Technician or Mixture
Aggregate Technician, as designated in the IDOT "Aggregate Gradation Control System",
who has had additional instruction by the Bureau of Materials and Physical Research
(BMPR) in the test methods used.
The overall program shall be administered by a Quality Control (QC) Manager, as
designated in the IDOT "Aggregate Gradation Control System".
4.0
GENERAL PROCEDURE
All ACBF and steel slag aggregate sources shall run the required tests at the specified
frequency listed in this policy memorandum. The deleterious count test data will only be
used to evaluate the test procedure. No test limits or ranges shall be applied.
These results shall be reported within 24 hours of the completion of the test to the
appropriate District Materials Engineer and the specific gravity/absorption results to all
contractors using the slag just tested. The test results shall be retained in a file at the
source for 3 years. Charting of test data is recommended.
All slag sources shall submit a stockpile Quality Control Plan to the District Materials
Engineer for approval prior to any production. The QC Plan shall detail all procedures the
source shall conduct to assure all slag aggregate in IDOT-approved stockpiles conforms
to the specific gravity/absorption requirements of this program prior to shipment.
Any slag source running this QC procedure certifies that all slag shipped for use in PCC
and HMA mixtures on IDOT contracts and local agency contracts meets the
specific gravity/absorption test limits and ranges cited in this policy memorandum prior to
shipment. 2
Non-compliance with the "Slag Producer Self-Testing Program" shall result in the slag
source's removal from the current IDOT "Approved Aggregate Source List".
All slag aggregate data (specific gravity absorption, etc.) for any mix design shall be
obtained from the appropriate District Materials Engineer.
5.0
TEST METHODS / SAMPLE FREQUENCY
The following slag characteristics shall be tested by the listed test method at the required
test frequency.
Slag Characteristic
Test Method *
Test Frequency
(minimum)
Specific Gravity / Absorption
Fine Aggregate:
Coarse Aggregate:
AASHTO T 84 (Illinois Modified)
AASHTO T 85 (Illinois Modified)
1
1 per 2,000 tons
1 per 2,000 tons
Deleterious Content
ACBF Slag:
Steel Slag:
IDOT Deleterious Count Procedure
IDOT Deleterious Count Procedure
1 per 5,000 tons
1 per 2,000 tons
6.0
SPECIFIC GRAVITY/ABSORPTION TEST LIMITS / RANGES
The following specific gravity/absorption test limits and ranges shall be applied to slag
tested under this policy memorandum. All slag shipped per this policy memorandum
shall meet these test limits and ranges prior to shipment.
Individual Test Limits
Specific Gravity
± 0.050 from the approved production target** specific gravity per
product/production point
Absorption Maximum 5.0% per product/production point ± 1.0 from the approved production target**absorption per
product/production point
Moving Target Test Range
Specific Gravity
(the running average
§
of the last
four specific gravity test results)
± 0.040 from the approved production target**
specific gravity per product/production point

*
IDOT Manual of Test Procedures for Materials
1

This test method is further modified to require that all test samples be washed, dried, and
weighed (for Original Weight) prior to testing using AASHTO T 11 (Illinois Modified).
**
The production targets for both specific gravity and absorption shall be developed by averaging the
first four test results at the start of production. If requested by the slag source, historical data for
the characteristic may be used to establish the average. All averages shall be approved by the
department prior to shipment. A source may request a target change at any time pursuant to
departmental approval. Slag aggregate produced after a target change shall be stockpiled
separately. Any change in the target may require a new mix design to be run.
§
The running average for specific gravity shall be calculated using the method noted in Section
9.3.1 of IDOT's QC/QA document "Aggregate Producer Control Chart Procedure" in the IDOT
Manual of Test Procedures for Materials. 3
7.0
IDOT MONITORING
The Aggregate Inspector shall witness the sampling and splitting of one of the slag
producer's samples a minimum of every 20 production days. The Aggregate Inspector
shall obtain one of the two final split portions for IDOT testing. All
specific gravity/absorption testing run by the slag producer shall also be conducted by
IDOT on its split portion for test results comparison. IDOT shall also run deleterious
counts on all split samples to accumulate test data for an evaluation of the deleterious
count test procedure.
Comparison of the sample splits will be considered acceptable if the slag producer's test
result falls within the following limits of the IDOT test result.
Fine Aggregate
Coarse Aggregate
Specific Gravity
0.066
0.038
Absorption
0.66
0.41
Any specific gravity/absorption result not comparing within the above limits shall be
cause for an IDOT investigation. Corrective action by the slag producer may be required
at the discretion of IDOT. Continued lack of comparison may be cause for removal of the
slag source from this program.
Eric E. Harm, P.E.
Engineer of Materials
and Physical Research
This policy memorandum supersedes Policy Memorandum 99-7 dated August 1, 1999.
WS/bb