We've been named on HS2, the UK's new high-speed rail line running north from London through the middle of England. It's one of the largest civil engineering programmes Europe has undertaken in a generation — a corridor of new stations, viaducts and tunnels, including the Colne Valley Viaduct, at 3.4km the longest railway bridge in the country — built out over more than a decade by a large and constantly shifting cast of main contractors and specialist sub-contractors.
Built for work in a tight corridor
Rail construction is unforgiving on the ground beneath it. The work happens inside narrow, heavily scrutinised corridors, it moves constantly from one worksite to the next, and it rarely affords the luxury of extensive individual ground testing at every crane position — which is exactly the brief our modular aluminium system is built to answer.
That's why we build ALIMATS the way we do: light enough for a two-person team to lift, place or reposition without any heavy plant on site, but rated to spread and transfer serious crane loads into ground that would otherwise need remediation. On a corridor as long and varied as HS2, where the ground and the lift plan change from one position to the next, that combination of handleability and verified capacity is what keeps work moving rather than waiting on the ground beneath it.
Frequently asked questions
What has ALIMATS done on HS2?
We've been named on the HS2 programme, the UK's high-speed rail line running north from London. It's exactly the kind of tightly constrained, heavily scrutinised rail corridor our modular aluminium crane mats are built for.
What is ALIMATS?
ALIMATS is our patented, modular aluminium crane mat system, made from 6005A alloy in configurations from 1.34m² to 8.07m². It carries a safe working load of up to 80 tonnes, independently verified with a Fellow of the Institution of Structural Engineers, and comfortably supports cranes up to 150 tonnes. Sections are handleable by two people without heavy plant, and mats are available to hire or buy with 24/7 UK delivery.
Can two people really move a mat rated to 80 tonnes?
Yes. That is the whole point of extruded aluminium — a mat that spreads a heavy crane load but stays light enough to lift, carry and reposition by hand, with no heavy plant needed. It is why aluminium suits fast-moving rail work where crane positions change from one lift to the next.
Can I hire ALIMATS for a rail or transport project?
Yes. ALIMATS is available to hire or buy, with 24/7 delivery across the UK. Tell us your corridor, ground conditions and crane loads and we will get the right mats to site — call the team on 01335 345111.