Crane mat
Also called Outrigger mat, Ground protection mat
A load-spreading panel, usually rectangular, placed on the ground beneath a crane’s outriggers, tracks or wheels to reduce the bearing pressure transmitted to the ground and prevent it failing or the plant sinking. Crane mats are made from various materials — including timber, steel, aluminium and UHMWPE/HDPE plastics — and are sized according to the load to be spread and the ground conditions on site.
From our specifications
Our own range gives the shape of the trade-off. The 25 ALIMATS® configurations carry 38 t to 80 t safe working load over 1.346 m² to 8.074 m² of plan area, built up from one to five interlocking layers, at 50 kg to 750 kg per mat and 200 kg to 3,000 kg per set of four. Capacity and spreading area rise together — and so does what has to be lifted off a lorry to get them there.
Source: alimat_configurations — the 25 published ALIMATS® configurations
Where it matters on site
A mat is selected against two numbers: the reaction it has to carry and the pressure the ground will accept. Everything else — material, layer count, whether it interlocks — follows from those, plus how it will be handled on the day. Handling weight is not a side issue: a set that needs plant to place changes the method statement for the set-up, which is a cost that never appears on the mat.