Point load
Also called Concentrated load
A load applied, or treated as applied, at a single concentrated location rather than spread over an area — the load from an individual outrigger foot, for example. Point loads generally produce much higher local bearing pressures than the same total load applied as a uniformly distributed load, which is why they are the critical case for crane mat sizing.
In practice
The total weight of a machine is almost never the number that sizes a mat. A crane on outriggers delivers its weight, its ballast and its load through four feet, and rarely evenly — the worst-loaded foot at the worst slew position governs. Working from a machine weight divided by four is the most common way to arrive at a mat that is too small.
Where this comes from: Standard temporary works and lift planning practice: plant loads are assessed per bearing point, not as a machine weight.
Where it matters on site
The same distinction decides whether a slab, a basement lid or a cellar arch can be worked over. A floor rated as a uniformly distributed load may have no capacity at all for a concentrated foot, and spreading that foot is exactly what a mat is for. Where a point load sits over a structure rather than over ground, the check belongs to whoever is responsible for that structure.