Month: January 2017
Crane mats give solid surface to earthwork platforms
We often talk about using crane mats and temporary access roads to overcome challenging ground conditions on a particular construction site, or along the route vehicles and equipment needs to take to get there.
But on large sites undergoing intensive redevelopment, the work itself can transform the landscape, making it even more important to use crane mats to spread the load when machinery is placed on top of earthworks that are not yet fully settled or compacted.
Crane mats in real world use
For example, in the ongoing work currently taking place on the Norwich Northern Distributor Road, the future A1270, 1.2 million cubic metres of earth has been excavated, with over 11,500 tonnes of this used to build crane platforms, piling mats and other on-site structures.
Other excavations on the site include more than 400 archaeological trenches, about a third so far of the 33km of drainage that needs to be installed, and a protective lagoon in the vicinity of Wensum Valley.
The junction with the A140 Cromer Road is ‘grade separated’, meaning the A140 crosses the A1270 on a bridge, with major construction work needed to build the slip roads and embankments here, while a further seven bridges and a bat underpass also form part of the project.
On any ambitious scheme such as this, heavy machinery is a must to keep work on schedule and to move the vast amounts of earth that must be relocated, but safety is also of paramount importance.
Rely on crane mats for ground surface safety
Crane mats give a more reliable ground surface by spreading the pressure of heavy vehicle tyres and tracks over an even wider area – they can be used on wet sand in tidal areas, which gives an idea of their suitability on recently moved soil that has not yet been compacted down.
And on transport infrastructure projects in particular, temporary access roads are an ideal way to provide safe routes to the interior of the site for works vehicles, until the new finished road surfaces are poured.
Contact Timbermat to discuss your options. We’ll be able to advise on the best mats for your project.
Can temporary roadways turn corners?
A commonly asked question about temporary roadways is whether or not they can turn corners, bearing in mind the straight edges of the timber mats used to construct them.
Temporary corners?
The short answer to this is yes, they can – and you will see many images on the Timbermat website of where timber mats have been used to build snaking temporary roadways to suit the lay of the land.
In fact there are several options when you need to turn a bend, and if the corner is a right-angle, or close to it, then you can usually turn your roadway domino-style by laying the next roadway mat to the side instead of on the end.
But in many cases the machinery you are using might not be able to navigate such a tight corner, and in this case the solution occurs quite naturally too.
Timber mats lend themselves to fairly gentle curves, while large vehicle tyres or tracked plant should have no problems traversing any slight gaps that develop as a result of the curve.
In this sense the nature of the problem – namely the size of the machinery you wish to transport along your temporary roadways – also becomes part of the natural solution.
Finally, ask yourself if it is really necessary to turn the corner at all, or if bog mats can provide a more direct route to make it easier for your machinery or vehicles to navigate.
Versatile Roadways
Straight temporary roadways inherently offer the most direct access, which will usually also mean the fastest and easiest movement of machinery.
Bog mats can cover relatively unstable or waterlogged ground, as well as levelling out any minor variations in ground level – potentially creating a direct route on to a site that would otherwise be difficult to drive on to at all.
If you are unsure how to install timber mats in a difficult place, give us a call now and a member of our team can advise you on which bog mats will work the best.