A Santa Fe company is looking to nature for solutions to crumbling roads and uranium mines that were abandoned without proper capping. Evaluations provided by Los Alamos National Laboratory scientists through the New Mexico Small Business Assistance (NMSBA) program have put those solutions within reach.
Bob Sherwin, CEO of Lithified Technologies, developed accelerated lithification technology, or LithTec, to mimic the process by which soil turns into stone over thousands of years. LithTec can be used to build roads that last longer and cost much less to build and maintain than roads built with traditional methods, Sherwin said. He believes the same technology can solve serious problems associated with poorly sealed uranium mines.
It took seven years of research and development for Sherwin’s company to develop a dry blend of naturally occurring minerals that turn rock-solid within a day after being mixed with and compacted into traditional roadbase materials at optimum moisture content.
Along the way, Lithified Technologies sought help from the New Mexico Small Business Assistance (NMSBA) program, which pairs small businesses with scientists at the state’s national laboratories to test, design and research products that are technically challenging. The company obtained an individual NMSBA award in 2019 to have its trademarked soil technology tested and studied by Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL).
Sherwin worked with Gilles Bussod, a scientist in the Earth System Observation Group at LANL, to test the road technology under strenuous conditions that might have otherwise taken decades. The yearlong study resulted in a 38-page white paper that substantiated test results involving customized formulations designed to achieve superior strength and load-bearing capacity in a wide range of soil classifications.
“Roads wear from the top down and fail from the bottom up,” Sherwin said. “We are solving the underlying problems that cause roads to fail. In addition, we recycle the failing asphalt roads in place without the need to haul it away to a landfill or recycling plant. Once the base layer is treated with LithTec, the asphalt thickness can be reduced by 50 percent or more.”
While working with the Navajo Nation on reservation road projects, Sherwin learned about the tribe’s problems associated with the 523 abandoned uranium mines (UAMs) left after World War II and the Cold War.
Sherwin worked with former Navajo Nation President Russell Begaye to apply for a second NMSBA project to again work with Bussod to research whether LithTec could be used to permanently cap the tribe’s UAMs and provide a uranium filtration system that would prevent uranium from leaching into water sources. Lithified Technologies received a leveraged award to test its “LithTec U-Capping System” on behalf of the company, the Navajo Nation, investors, and other stakeholders who would benefit if the technology proved sound. Leveraged projects allow multiple small businesses that share technical challenges to request assistance collectively for a larger project.
The results were positive, and the company is applying for a patent on its design. Sherwin hopes this technology could be used in the remediation of other Superfund sites nationwide.
The NMSBA program accepts applications for individual projects year-round, however, leveraged project applications are accepted just twice a year. The fall 2021 leveraged project application deadline is September 14.
For more information about Lithified Technologies, visit www.LithTec.com. Apply to the NMSBA program at https://www.nmsbaprogram.org./
The Finance New Mexico project connects individuals and businesses with skills and funding resources for their business or idea. To learn more, go to www.FinanceNewMexico.org.