Close
Contact UsRequest a Quote
← Back to all posts

Benefits of CLT Mats over Traditional Timber and Crane Mats

Times up for Timber

If you’re still using traditional timber or crane site mats, you’re missing out on a host of safety, sustainability, and savings benefits.  Simply switching your site access mats to newer, more innovative options — even if you change nothing else — can have a big impact on your bottom line.

What’s Wrong with Timber?

The power and pipeline industries have relied on bolted hardwood timber site access mats for decades, and a perception persists that timber mats are stronger. But the fact is, bolted timber mats are created from mixed hard and soft woods with no standardized specifications, they take more trucks to transport, and the required bolts cause breaks at stress points and can be bent with heavy pressure. The longer and difficult installation exposes your crew to more hazards. In a word, bolted timber mats are expensive. They’re certainly not as durable or as safe as a site access mat should be.

For your next job, consider TerraLam® CLT site access mats — a game changing innovation within the industry. With TerraLam, you still have a solid wood mat, but its construction makes a world of difference. The “CLT” stands for “cross-laminated timber,” an engineered product that delivers money-saving longevity and reliability in contrast with timber.

Make a single job site change, and the benefits really add up.

TerraLam 508 – the only 8-foot matTerraLam 508 – the only 8-foot mat of its kind

TerraLam’s two widths, 4 feet (TerraLam 504) and 8 feet (TerraLam 508) are both lighter and stronger than timber mats. But the TerraLam 508 weighs the same as a 4-foot timber mat. And it’s size means that you have half as many touches to get your mat down on the right of way. Reduced labor and equipment hours can save you 40% in installation costs. You can also get 152 linear feet of TerraLam 508 mats in one truck, versus 72 linear feet of timber mats in one truck. So you’ll use half the number of trucks and save up to 50 percent on freight. The innovative Cross-Grain Technology built into both mat sizes ensures they will outlast any other mats on the market — a real long-term value.

Why choose a 4-foot timber mat when you can get an 8-foot mat that is lighter and outlast the competition?