Lumber Mats

[Robert Hale]

The reason we only got to Albee's crossing was that the lumber people had placed heavy timber MATS over our crossing planks then covered them with a number of inches of gravel which protects the crossing. I'm sure they will be removed as soon as their done lumbering. I wish we could have those 8 by 8 timbers that are bolted together, but I guess they cost quite a lot to build.

Just ask them about those timbers. They just might leave them for the museum.

[Dave Buczkowski]

Robert,
Believe me, we did ask the logger. We suggested that they would be great for our proposed roundhouse. Apparently they are expensive and reused on the next site they log.
Dave

[Wayne Laepple]

I am seeing a lot of those heavy timber pads in this area, where the Marcellus shale gas drillers use them to move equipment across soft areas in the north woods of Pennsylvania. They are coming in by the carload from somewhere down south. They are rented by the month by the drillers and trucked to the work site. They are returned to a central yard when they're done.

[Mike Fox]

They have really made an appearance up here this last year. Coming in by the car load. The new power lines need them for the soft areas (swamps up here) so the equipment doesn't rut everything up. The are called anything from crane mats to bridge mats and sometimes just mats. Cost about 700 per mat to build. For the powerline project, they needed something like 150,000 of them. Interesting to see them used in more than just soft areas.

[Stewart "Start" Rhine]

Environmental regulations put in place over the last few years require the use of mats in more places such as the power lines project.  The logger told us that each 16 foot long 12X12 timber cost $400.  He said that his mats are made with 3 timbers bolted together.  It looks like there are 3 mats on Albees crossing.  One centered on the track and one on each side with some smaller loose timbers stepping down to the road surface.  There is a lot of dirt covering the whole thing.       

Stewart

[Wayne Laepple]

The mats I've seen around here have three long timbers with shorter spacer blocks between them. They are about three feet wide and 15 feet long. There is constant truck traffic in and out of the lot where the mats are unloaded from center-beam lumber flats. Some that come in on the railcars appear to be brand new, while others look well-used.