Bog Mats

Timber bog mats in Ekki, tropical hardwood and European oak

Species is the first choice in the range: it decides how a mat copes with acidic ground, constant wet and long service, and what a full run costs to buy.

Ekki bog mats

Ekki bog mats are the heaviest duty mats in the range, cut from the most acid-resistant commercial timber available and with high electrical resistance. They are the mat to choose for peat, bog and other acidic ground, for exposed sites that see wet and windy weather for months at a time, and for utility work where electrical resistance is part of the specification. For a road that stays down through a long contract, or a stock of mats that moves from job to job for years, Ekki is the long-term buy.

Tropical hardwood bog mats

Tropical hardwood bog mats are made from dense marine timbers sourced from West Africa and South America, with an interlocked grain and high bending strength that suit them to any ground condition or location. They are the choice for contractors who need one mat for varied work, such as clay on one job and waterlogged pasture or a lake edge on the next, without changing species for each site.

European oak and beech bog mats

European oak and beech bog mats are made from sustainably sourced European hardwood and are the most cost effective of the three species. They are hardwearing and cause minimal ground disturbance on temporary roadways, which is why oak and beech are among the most widely used timbers for mats. This species also has the widest choice of thickness and length in the range, so it is the usual pick for long access roads, event and construction access, and any job that needs a large number of mats at a sensible cost.

Bog mats for access roads, crane pads and pipelines

Temporary access roads and haul roads

Most bog mats go into temporary roads that carry delivery lorries, concrete trucks, dumpers and tracked plant from the public road to the work face. The road has to be wide enough for the widest vehicle using it, laid along the full route before heavy traffic starts, and thick enough for the loaded weight of the heaviest vehicle at the wettest time of year. Where the road crosses buried pipes or cables, the mats spread the load over the service, and underground service protection marks and guards it below ground.

Crane mats and piling rig platforms

Timber crane mats give a crawler crane or piling rig a level, stable surface to track over and stand on, and they form crane pads that spread outrigger loads over soft ground. Mats placed under an outrigger are chosen from the lift plan and the temporary works design for that lift, which set the size, thickness and number of mats against the outrigger load and the bearing capacity of the ground. A mat run laid for tracking only goes under the outriggers when the design for the lift includes it.

Pipeline, utility and wind farm access

Pipeline, cable and wind farm routes cross farmland, bog and upland peat for long distances, so the mat road usually moves with the work: mats are lifted from behind the spread and relaid ahead of it. That makes handling weight as much a part of the choice as load, since the same mats are lifted many times over one contract. Pipeline timber skids sit on or beside the mat road to stage, rack and support lengths of pipe before they are lowered into the trench.

Tree work and forestry

Arborists and forestry crews lay bog mats under tracked chippers, stump grinders, tracked access platforms and timber lorries working on lawns, parkland and soft forest tracks. The mats spread the load over tree roots and prevent the ruts that turn a short job into a costly reinstatement. On tight garden and estate access, shorter mats that a compact machine can lift are often the practical choice.

Laying a bog mat roadway

A mat roadway starts with walking the route. Soft spots, standing water, ditches, gradients, buried services and overhead lines are found and marked before the first mat arrives, and the route is set wide enough for the largest vehicle that will use it. Mats are delivered by lorry and set down at the start of the run.

Each mat goes down across the line of travel, butted tight against the last, so that wheels and tracks cross the joints squarely and no gaps open between mats. The laying machine works forward off the mats already down, placing the next mat ahead of it, and does not track onto ground that has not been matted.

Turning areas at the end of the road and passing places along it are laid as wider pads of mats, sized for the turning circle of the longest vehicle. Where the road runs beside footpaths, site cabins, welfare units or scaffolding, a line of baulk timbers along the edge of the mats keeps wheels on the road and away from people and structures. Once traffic starts, the run is walked daily, and any mat that has shifted, tilted or sunk is lifted and relaid.