Is your worksite prepared for this year’s sudden rainy summer weather?
Since May’s long weekend, Alberta’s seen heavy hails, thunderstorms and strong rain showers that have affected the terrain and caused uneven grounds throughout all worksites. Days that start out bright and sunny often turn cloudy, creating a light drizzle that seeps through the soil and leaves the landscape wet and muddy. With uneven and soft terrain, transporting materials and excavating grounds can be highly hazardous to your machinery and crew, especially if Alberta’s weather conditions affect your current access matting options.
Cross Laminated Timber (CLT) worksite access mats will ensure the safety of your worksite and maintain the efficiency of your workflow. Customers in the power, oil & gas, forestry and construction industries rely on CLT products as their leading source for expert matting options. Read on to learn more about the numerous benefits of GFI Solutions’ temporary worksite access mats.
What Are CLT Mats?
Before diving into the benefits of CLT mats, we’ll quickly explain what CLT mats are and how they differ from traditional bolted mats. CLT mats are manufactured using a novel approach that engineers stronger and safer worksite mats than bolted mats. Instead of bolting planks of traditional Douglas Fir together, CLT mats are manufactured using Southern Yellow Pine wooden planks that are adhered together using an eco-friendly adhesive. This process makes CLT mats more flexible than bolted mats, allowing even distribution of weight throughout the entire surface and reducing the risk of breakage that might occur from concentrating the weights on the bolts instead of the mat.
Types of CLT mats
Given the strength of CLT mats, they are used in several matting options, including:
Worksite mats are generally used to create temporary roads over uneven grounds for workers and machinery to move seamlessly in and out of a job site. These mats are manufactured to handle a wide range of weights and can be customized to fit your worksite’s matting needs.
Rig mats or crane mats are very similar to access mats, but they are steel-framed to be primarily used for extremely heavy loads. For those working in the oil and gas or construction industry, rig mats are specially designed to carry heavy machinery like cranes, excavators, wheel loaders, track loaders, etc.
Portable access bridges are used in worksites that require crossing water, ditches and other environmental hazards that can hinder your workflow. TerraCross bridges are lightweight, can be delivered on a single truck and installed in as little as a couple of hours. Specs include:
TERRACROSS 40:
- Weight Limit: 100 tons
- Maximum Spanning Distance: 35′
- Total Length: 40′
- Matting: TerraLam® 500 bearing mats and TerraLam® 700 decking
TERRACROSS 56:
- Weight Limit: 65 tons
- Maximum Spanning Distance: 50′
- Total Length: 56′
- Matting: TerraLam® 500 bearing mats and TerraLam® 700 decking
GFI Solutions: Your Exclusive Source For Matting Solutions
We are proud to be the sole Canadian distributor of Sterling Solutions’ range of access matting products, including their 300 and 500-model access mats, bridges and more! Contact our team today to rent or buy temporary access mats.