Comparisons, load-spread calculations and specification references for crane mats, outrigger pads and temporary works
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A gap under a precast bearing, a steel baseplate or a machinery plinth isn't a finishing detail — it's a load path, and whatever goes into it becomes part of the structure. Here's why that gap needs an engineered levelling shim rather than whatever offcut is nearest to hand, what we designed Stacker Packers to do, and what to check before you specify one.
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Crane matting is engineered, load-bearing, and can fail with the same consequences as any other temporary works item. Here we set out the roles, the checks and the sign-off that should sit around a mat specification - not the calculation itself, but the governance framework the calculation belongs inside.
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Bearing pressure calculations get all the attention, but the number you divide by has to come from somewhere. We take the ground itself seriously: how it fails, what determines its strength, why made ground is uniquely unpredictable, and how bearing capacity is actually established on a real site.
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Most pages mention the load spread calculation and move straight on. We would rather show our working. Here is the full method — force, bearing pressure, area, depth spread and stiffness — with a worked example, so a specifier can follow the maths rather than take it on trust.
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