Aluminium crane mat
Also called Aluminium outrigger mat, Modular aluminium mat
A crane mat manufactured from structural aluminium alloy, usually as extruded modules that interlock and stack in layers to reach a required safe working load and plan area. Aluminium is one of four materials in common use for crane mats — with timber, steel and engineering plastics — and is chosen where handling weight, a rating published per configuration and indifference to water matter more than purchase price.
From our specifications
ALIMATS® are made from certified recycled 6005A aluminium in a patented interlocking design, and the published range runs 1.346 m² to 8.074 m² of plan area at 38 t to 80 t safe working load, one to five layers, 50 kg to 750 kg per mat. Individual modules weigh 13 kg to 48 kg, which is what keeps a set handleable without lifting plant at the smaller sizes. In independent bending tests an ALIMATS® mat deflected 2 mm under a 1 t load where an equivalent UHMW-PE plastic mat deflected 102 mm — stiffness, rather than compressive strength alone, is what actually spreads a load.
Source: alimat_configurations, and the published ALIMATS® specification and independent bending test result
Where it matters on site
Choosing between the materials is a specification exercise rather than a definitional one, and the comparisons that decide it are handling weight, whether the rating is published per configuration or estimated, how the mat behaves after a season in service, and whole-life cost rather than price on the day. Timber is cheaper to buy and heavier every time it moves; plastic is light and far more flexible, and flexibility concentrates load rather than spreading it. What no material changes is the ground: a mat is a way of delivering a stated reaction at a stated pressure, and somebody still has to say what pressure the ground will accept.