There’s been asphalt and there’s been gravel. Now, you have a Third Way, a way that’s superior and more natural than these century-old methods. Midwest NaturalPave engineered, eco-friendly paving solutions outperform any semi-permanent method — lasting longer, saving money and protecting the environment.
IT’S TIME FOR A NEW WAY
The traditional methods are old as dirt, so it’s about time for the “Third Way” to change everything. Conventional roads methods have been around a long, long time — and they’re not getting any better. The “First Way” was asphalt, used for road building around 625 B.C. in Babylon and introduced in the U.S. as asphalt pavement in 1870. Yet it’s still the dominant means at 95%! The “Second Way” was gravel, when a layer of larger rocks was covered by a layer of smaller gravel in France about 240 years ago.
Now, Midwest soil stabilization science brings you the “Third Way,” new NaturalPave, an engineered, environmental alternative to the old ways.
NaturalPave will work for you whether a road will remain unsurfaced or receive a surface treatment such as chip seal. It’s an organic stabilizing system formulated to vastly improve the sub-structure of secondary unpaved roadways.
As Strong as Asphalt Comparison #1 — Typical* 70% Savings
Traditional Design #1: Total Structural Number for Pavement = 1.70
A
B
C
A
2'' Hot Mix Asphalt Surface Course
- Structural Coefficient = 0.43
- Structural Number = 0.86
B
6'' Aggregate Base Course
- Structural Coefficient = 0.14
- Structural Number = 0.84
C
Native Soil Subgrade
- Native Structural Strength
COST PER 20' MILE: $385,440
Midwest's NaturalPave Design #1: Total Structural Number for Pavement = 1.76
1
2
3
1
1'' NaturalPave Chip Surface Course
- Structural Coefficient = 0.00
- Structural Number = 0.00
2
8'' NaturalPave Stabilized Base
- Structural Coefficient = 0.22
- Structural Number = 1.76
3
Native Soil Subgrade
- Native Structural Strength
*Comparison hypotheticals are for illustration purposes only. Each installation will require site-specific materials and requirements. Overall cost savings will vary.
COST PER 20' MILE: $110,880
As Strong as Asphalt Comparison #2 — Typical* 60% Savings
Traditional Design #2: Total Structural Number for Pavement = 2.13
A
B
C
A
3'' Hot Mix Asphalt Surface Course
- Structural Coefficient = 0.43
- Structural Number = 1.29
B
6'' Aggregate Base Course
- Structural Coefficient = 0.14
- Structural Number = 0.84
C
Native Soil Subgrade
- Native Structural Strength
COST PER 20' MILE: $491,040
Midwest's NaturalPave Design #2: Total Structural Number for Pavement = 2.16
1
2
3
1
6'' NaturalPave Stabilized Base
- Structural Coefficient = 0.20
- Structural Number = 1.20
2
6'' NaturalPave Stabilized Native Soil
- Structural Coefficient = 0.16
- Structural Number = 0.96
3
Native Soil Subgrade
- Native Structural Strength
*Comparison hypotheticals are for illustration purposes only. Each installation will require site-specific materials and requirements. Overall cost savings will vary.
COST PER 20' MILE: $168,960
As Strong as Asphalt Comparison #3 — Typical* 40% Savings
Traditional Design #3: Total Structural Number for Pavement = 0.98
A
B
A
7'' Aggregate Surface Course
- Structural Coefficient = 0.14
- Structural Number = 0.98
B
Native Soil Subgrade
- Natural Structural Strength
COST PER 20' MILE: $153,120
Midwest's NaturalPave Design #3: Total Structural Number for Pavement = 0.96
1
2
1
6'' NaturalPave Stabilized Native Soil
- Structural Coefficient = 0.16
- Structural Number = 0.96
2
Native Soil Subgrade
- Native Structural Strength
*Comparison hypotheticals are for illustration purposes only. Each installation will require site-specific materials and requirements. Overall cost savings will vary.
COST PER 20' MILE: $89,760
MIDWEST’S “THIRD WAY” IS A BETTER WAY FOR NATURAL PAVING.
Like nature … only better.
Innovator in Semi-Permanent Roads
The Most Natural Alternative
Earth-Friendly Stabilization Technology
The “Third Way”
NATURALPAVE — THE ORGANIC ALTERNATIVE FOR USE ON:
UNPAVED & SECONDARY ROADS | TRAILS & PATHWAYS | VILLAGE & COMMUNITY ROADS | MILITARY ROADS | STATE, COUNTY & MUNICIPAL ROADS | RANCH & AGRICULTURAL ROADS
Use in-place native soils instead of imported materials, with the new, organic alternative. Midwest’s natural-binder-based road construction solution properly engineers sustainable, flexible roadbeds such as unpaved secondary roads; access roads for industrial facilities and operations (e.g., power companies, mines, steel mills, agricultural production, military roads); trails; entrance roads and pathways for event destinations and residential communities; village and municipal roads.
GET OFF YOUR ASPHALT … AND ON THE “THIRD WAY.”
Total performance with none of the asphalt.
Midwest NaturalPave delivers the structural strength of asphalt at only 40% of the construction cost. You save up to 60% of that cost, while replacing 100% of the petroleum used in conventional, flexible pavement construction. This is a considerable step forward, because more than 95% of pavements are asphalt. This is critical because asphalt prices are considered volatile in nature, making project planning and budgeting daunting tasks.
Asphalt is also made to fail. Its main failure mode is cracking, with a potential that increases over time due to the age hardening of the asphalt binder — a natural aging process of the material. According to the Asphalt Institute, “Pavement distresses accumulate as asphalt pavements age and traffic pounds them. If timely maintenance isn’t performed, distresses are compounded. Cracks become potholes and potholes become craters.”
Other complications to a continued reliance on asphalt binders are increased environmental regulations; rising costs of asphalt binder; and modifications to the crude petroleum refinery process, implemented to garner more petroleum fuel while reducing asphalt residue.
Get maintenance costs under control, too.
Maintenance is a cost that never ends. And unless you want to incur greater costs and greater inconvenience, it must be performed frequently. According to Larry Galehouse, director of the National Center for Pavement Preservation (NCPP), “We have to do road maintenance when the roads are in fair-to-good condition, rather than waiting until they are in poor condition.”
Worse, maintenance is needed when it is most costly and difficult. That’s why the Asphalt Institute’s publication states that the less-than-optimal choices in inclement weather or emergency situations are the throw-and-roll method (with material compacted with a hand tamper or the truck tires) or throw-and-go (with no compaction at all — relying solely on the moving traffic to do so!).
IT'S ONLY NATURAL.
Using what’s already there offers a more natural approach, obviously. So the resulting surface fits in better with its surrounding, both aesthetically and environmentally. Midwest stabilizes roadbeds by blending our proprietary organic NaturalPave science-based products into native roadbed soils, old graveled roads, or recycled roadway surface materials to create a superior structure that maximizes potential road strength and extends the useful life of the roadbed. Or, our two-part construction system stabilizes the sub-base by using in-place soils in conjunction with Midwest’s NaturalPave base, and then provides a chip seal running surface with Midwest’s green NaturalPave Chip. You get improved roadways without relying on any asphaltic products, yet they perform as well as conventional asphalt surfaces.
Another advantage of Midwest’s choice to integrate native soils rather than non-native materials is that it eliminates the risk that non-native materials won’t successfully assimilate. That’s why, for example, the Federal Highway Administration recommends testing the compatibility of binder with aggregate, to identify cold mixes that do not perform well prior to large-scale production. When the materials come from the same place, compatibility is innate (and thus guaranteed).
FILL OUT THE FORM BELOW TO DISCOVER THE THIRD WAY.