<p>Highly plastic clay based soils pose a serious problem in mechanical engineering in terms of their behavior, and hence in geotechnical engineering terms, effective stabilization measures must be implemented. The current study focuses on the use of two industrial by-products, namely the steel slag (SS) and a waste glass powder (GP) to improve the properties of a CH type clay that is extracted in Mosul, Iraq. To ensure the reliable data, all tests in the laboratory were carried out in triplicate, and the results are shown as mean values, with standard deviations. Experimental procedure included were Atterberg limits, standard Proctor’s compaction, unconfined compressive strength (UCS), a direct shear and consolidation tests. Results indicate incorporation of SS and GP contributes to a decrease in plasticity of the soil and enhancements in strength and, deformation based behavior. The shear strength parameters show that an 8% SS increases the internal angle of friction and decreases cohesion and GP increases cohesion and mechanical properties further based on proportions of mixture. A mixture consisting of 8% SS + 8% GP gave the highest values of UCS while 4% SS + 2% GP gave the most optimum values of cohesion. The results of the consolidation tests showed that the compression index (Cc) value decreased, thus representing better compressibility behavior. Overall, both SS and GP have potential to use as industrial byproducts to improve the engineering properties of clay soils, and mechanical interpretations should not be based on chemically confirmed interpretations.</p>