A Santa Fe company is looking to nature for solutions to crumbling roads and uranium mines that were abandoned without proper capping.

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.

Road base treated with LithTec™ turns into a rock-hard, water-resistant foundation in just 24 hours. The same technology, he said, can solve serious problems associated with poorly sealed uranium mines.