Ground Protection Mats
Ground protection mats give vehicles, plant and pedestrians a stable running surface over soft ground and protect the ground beneath from ruts and churning. The range runs in duty classes, from light duty access mats for foot traffic and light vehicles, through medium and heavy duty plastic ground mats for site traffic and tracked plant, to roadway panels and hardwood bog mats for cranes and the heaviest machines.
Medium and heavy duty mats join with connectors, so they can be laid as continuous haul roads, walkways and working platforms for construction and civils sites, events and temporary car parks.
Light, medium and heavy duty ground protection mats
The duty class is the first choice to make, because it decides what a mat will carry, and the range climbs from mats for foot traffic and cars up to roadway panels for constant construction traffic.
Light duty access mats
The light duty access mats are the lightest class of access mat, made from recycled HDPE for pedestrian routes and for cars and vans crossing lawns, verges and soft ground. They sit with the other vehicle access mats for lighter traffic, and the step up to a heavier class comes as soon as loaded lorries or excavators share the route.
Medium duty and narrow access mats
The medium duty access mats cover the middle of the range: temporary site access, walkways, event routes and vehicle access for vans, small plant and light site traffic. Narrow access mats are a slimmer medium duty mat for side passages, garden gates and gaps between buildings where a full-width mat will not fit.
Heavy duty access mats
Heavy duty plastic ground mats, known on site as E-mats, Euro mats or plastic track mats, are the core of the range and carry up to 80 tonnes depending on the ground beneath. They are the choice for loaded lorries, excavators and dumpers on construction and civils sites. The heavy duty access mats come in full and half sizes, and the Eurotrak heavy duty mats come in two full-size thicknesses and a half size, with a non-slip traction surface for short and long-term access. Safe Trak ground mats are dual-sided, with a deep traction face for vehicles and a non-slip face for pedestrians, and suit both heavy machinery on soft ground and festival sites. The vehicle ground protection mats are built for heavy plant and pedestrians moving over the same soft or sensitive ground, and used ground protection mats are Safe Trak mats that have done a single job and carry no damage.
Hi-vis track mats
The hi-vis track mats are heavy duty mats in high-visibility yellow, so the edges of a temporary roadway, walkway or car park stay visible in low light and bad weather. Choose them where the public, night shifts or banksmen need to read the route at a glance, such as event sites, car parks and access routes beside live traffic.
Machinery access mats for diggers and tracked plant
The digger mats in the range have a deep, high-profile traction pattern that grips wheeled and tracked machines alike on slopes, in wet clay and where tracks slew on the mat.
Heavy duty roadway panels
The Mega Track roadway panels are large-format panels in recycled UHMWPE for temporary roads carrying heavy machinery and constant construction traffic. Each panel covers more than twice the area of a standard mat, so a long haul road has fewer joints, and the format suits military sites and car parks.
Flexible and free-draining mats
Terraguard flexible matting has a multi-directional anti-slip surface and gives a stable footing over uneven ground, which suits walkways, temporary car parks, event routes and sports grounds. The Spaghetti Mat is an open, free-draining matting for site entrances, loose ground and temporary traffic zones: water, mud and debris drop through it, so the surface stays cleaner for workers and light trade vehicles.
Plastic ground mats or timber bog mats
Plastic mats are the choice for most site access, and hardwood bog mats take over for cranes, piling rigs and the heaviest tracked plant on wet or very soft ground. HDPE mats are carried and laid by hand using their hand holes, go down quickly and can be lifted and relaid many times as a job moves, so they suit mixed traffic on construction sites, events and any route that pedestrians share. Timber bog mats are thicker and heavier, are laid with plant, and their stiffness spreads concentrated loads from crawler tracks and outriggers across a wider area of weak ground. The full selection is under timber bog mats.
Within the timber range, Ekki bog mats have high electrical resistance and are the most acid-resistant commercial timber, so they suit wet weather, acidic peat and utility work. European hardwood bog mats, mainly sustainably sourced oak and beech, are hard-wearing, cause minimal ground disturbance and are the common choice for temporary roadways. Tropical hardwood bog mats are dense marine timbers with an interlocked grain, chosen for bending strength in any condition.
Ground mats for construction sites, events and crane work
Haul roads and site access on construction and civils sites
A haul road needs a continuous, joined run with no gaps for wheels to drop into. Lay extra width at gateways, bends and turning points, where tyres scrub and tracks slew, and keep spare mats on site to replace any that lift. Where the route crosses an open trench, the run changes to steel road plates or composite road plates, a lighter modular trench cover that two people can install.
Crane and piling rig working platforms
Under a crane or piling rig, the mats spread a concentrated load across enough ground to stay within its bearing capacity. A platform of bog mats or roadway panels carries the tracks or chassis, and outrigger pads go under each stabiliser foot to spread the point load further. In public and pedestrianised areas, hi-vis outrigger pads make the pads easier to see as a trip hazard. Ground bearing capacity belongs in the lift plan, and the platform is sized from it together with the load at each track or outrigger.
Events, festivals and temporary car parks
At events, the mats carry production lorries, generators and the public on the same ground, often over a field that has to be handed back in good condition. Pedestrian routes need a level surface with closed joints that a buggy or wheelchair wheel cannot catch on. Hi-vis track mats mark out vehicle lanes and car park rows, and medium duty access mats, laid with the low-profile face up, suit public walkways.
Pedestrian walkways around work zones
Walkways separate foot traffic from plant and give a clean, level route across mud and rough ground. Pedestrian walkway matting is a low-profile recycled rubber mat with tongue-and-groove joints for public routes inside barriered areas. Site walkway path mats are a flexible, high-visibility walkway for sites, factories and warehouses.
Ground mat load ratings and ground conditions
Matching the mat to the load
A mat's rating describes what it carries on firm ground, and the working figure falls as the ground softens and the mat flexes into it. For Safe Trak heavy duty mats, rated up to 80 tonnes, HERMEQ advises running up to 50 tonnes on medium to soft ground. Choose the next class up when the ground is soft, when heavy wheeled loads sit on small tyres, or when the route takes repeated passes. Tracked plant spreads its weight over a longer contact area than wheels on a machine of the same weight, although slewing on the mat wears the surface faster.
Soft, wet and sensitive ground
On waterlogged ground and peat, timber bog mats are the choice for plant, with plastic mats kept for vehicle and pedestrian routes on the firmer margins. On heritage sites, lawns, verges and finished landscaping, mats protect the surface and avoid the cost of reinstatement once the work is done.
Temporary mats or permanent ground reinforcement
Mats suit jobs measured in days, weeks or months, after which they are lifted and the ground recovers. Overflow car parks, field gateways and access routes used season after season are better served by reinforcement that stays in the ground. Grass protection mesh rolls out over turf, lets the grass grow through and carries loads up to 8 tonnes. Ground stabilisation mesh comes in grades from pedestrian use up to HGVs and fire engines. Grass grids permanently stabilise grassed parking, driveways and earth banks, and X Grid gravel and grass grids interlock under gravel or grass to reduce rutting and potholes on paths and car parks.
Handling, transport and storage
Plastic mats are moved by hand through moulded hand holes, and half-size heavy duty mats are lighter to carry, quicker to position in tight spots and useful for finishing the end of a run. Ground mat stillages hold standard full-size mats for storage in the yard and transport between jobs. Before ordering, the ground mat calculator prices the cover for a set area.
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Frequently Asked Questions
Heavy duty plastic mats are joined through their hand holes with hand-hole connectors, which clamp neighbouring mats together so the run moves as one under traffic. Interlocking walkway and floor mats join along their edges with tongue-and-groove or slot-and-key connections.
Dual-sided heavy duty mats have a deep traction face for vehicles and plant and a flatter non-slip face for pedestrians. Lay the traction face up on haul roads, vehicle routes and plant areas, and the pedestrian face up on walkways and public areas.
Measure the route or pad, divide its length by the mat's length and its width by the mat's width, round both figures up and multiply them; most full-size plastic mats are 2.4m long and 1.2m wide. Gateways, bends and turning points need extra width on top of that count.
Yes. Plastic ground mats spread the weight of vehicles and footfall so that grass is not rutted or churned. Grass covered for long periods loses light and yellows, so lift the mats as soon as the work allows.
The plastic access mats in the range are made from recycled high density polyethylene, and HDPE is fully recyclable at the end of a mat's working life. Mats that come off a job undamaged can be cleaned and reused many times.