Month: July 2017
Crane mats reduce your biggest risks
Crane mats do more than just protect the ground – they also protect you against some of the biggest risks you face on an active job site, where instability of heavy lifting gear or crane vehicles can lead to a costly catastrophe.
The safety risks of tower cranes
HSE statistics show that since 2001, there have been more than 60 reported safety incidents involving tower cranes in the construction industry, with 25 people seriously injured and nine people killed.
Along with this completely avoidable human cost, there is the financial cost – the destruction of cranes that topple on unstable ground, the value of anything destroyed where they land, the potential health and safety fines, and the lengthy interruption to construction work.
The sheer size of cranes and the quantity of goods that they can lift means the destructive forces involved in a collapse can be huge – but crane mats can help to make sure that the ground surface is properly prepared, to improve the stability of all lifting equipment, from the very largest to a relatively small vehicle-mounted crane.
How do crane mats work?
When you lay crane mats, you can create temporary roadways for crane vehicles, or stationary platforms for static lifting equipment, so that you know what surface you are working on.
The mats help to spread the pressure and the downward forces from the crane’s legs, wheels or outriggers, and this in itself means you are less likely to sink into soft ground or break through into a hidden cavity below.
You can combine this with outrigger pads where appropriate, to achieve the same added stability for individual outriggers, rather than putting in place a completely solid platform or temporary roadway.
You reduce the risk of the ground giving way beneath the crane by distributing the weight more evenly; you lower the risk of the crane toppling if the ground on one side is softer than on the other; and where necessary you construct a temporary roadway that doubles as a demarcation system to highlight the safe route.
On top of all of this, crane mats deliver the general benefits of ground protection mats, protecting exposed earth, soil and lawns against being churned up by bulky crane vehicle tyres, and reducing landscaping costs to put it right again when construction is completed. Timbermat is able to provide you with the crane mats necessary to ensure your construction site is safe.
Timber bog mats keep you safe in summer
Timber bog mats have obvious benefits in winter, when they can cover over wet mud, ground that has frozen into ruts and furrows, or provide temporary roadways over icy ground.
But in the summer months they are an equally important investment, as the subsoil conditions can be deceptive on what looks like a perfect day to get some work done on a construction site or other outdoor job.
Soil settlement
Expansive soils like clay in particular are affected by changes in their moisture content, so in a dry summer they can be much more prone to settlement and subsidence, especially when heavy machinery and vehicles pass overhead.
Much like crane mats spread the pressure of heavy lifting equipment, timber bog mats can make sure the weight of a vehicle is not focused solely on the point of contact between its wheels and the dry ground, making it easier to drive safely over very dry soils.
Flash floods
Timber bog mats might not hold back an all-out flash flood, but they can be used to provide a stable surface over waterlogged ground following a heavy summer shower.
Parched earth in particular can become resistant to water penetration, so any rainfall is much more likely to lead to standing water than if it were to fall on already damp ground in winter; temporary roadways designate a route across active sites and as the timber mats are naturally slightly raised, they can form a kind of boardwalk free from puddles too.
Festivals and events
It’s not just the weather that poses a problem in the summer months, as many venues face a much busier schedule of festivals, sporting occasions and other public events.
Timber bog mats can put in place temporary roadways, pedestrian walkways and even completely covered areas of land using large numbers of ground protection mats.
Used in all the appropriate places, ground protection mats can create a barrier so the surface below is not damaged, reducing the amount of repair work and landscaping that will be needed once the event is over, and allowing you to restore open ground to its former state very quickly just by removing the timber mats.