Heavy industry construction and turnaround projects have a common requirement – the need for a solid foundation to support equipment and structures. In many cases the access roads and construction areas for projects must be reinforced to accommodate cranes, transporters and their loads. Gravel, mats, concrete slabs and other materials are traditionally used for this purpose. But these materials are often heavy and can therefore add to the weight applied to the ground, causing settlement problems. These materials also need to be transported to and from site, resulting in additional cost and environmental impact.

Mammoet’s Enviro-Mat provides a more efficient, cost-effective and sustainable alternative. Saving time, material and money while lowering the carbon footprint of a project. Enviro-Mat can be used to provide both temporary and permanent pavement for roads, lay down areas, hard stands and crane pads.

Combining sustainability benefits with quick installation, it can be used in a wide range of situations. If offers particular advantages on sites where the ground bearing capacity of a large area needs to be increased within a short timeframe. Quickly installed and fully reusable, Enviro-Mat offers a simple and convenient method for increasing a site’s ground bearing capacity.

More efficient construction

Across all sectors, project engineers are seeking even greater efficiencies. One way to achieve this is through greater economies of scale. As a result, project components, and the equipment required to move them, are becoming bigger and heavier than ever before.

Modern construction techniques, including modular or prefabricated construction approaches, where key components are manufactured off site and then transported for installation, help to reduce costs, save time and improve safety. These more efficient construction approaches for today’s power plants, refineries, wind farms, mines and infrastructure call for specialized engineering techniques alongside heavy lifting and transport equipment on an unprecedented scale.

One result of the trend for increasing scale in construction approaches is that the ground where machinery and plant components are travelling, standing or operating needs a greater load bearing capacity than ever before.

Before the construction of a major facility can begin, stabilizing and fortifying the soil can be a civil engineering project in its own right. Preparing access roads, hard stands, laydown areas and crane pads requires planning, ground preparation, the delivery of a significant amount of materials and construction time.

The heavy lifting and transport scope of the project may then call for additional reinforcements consisting of gravel, wooden mats, concrete slabs and other materials. Permanent areas used for heavy lifting operations often require the construction of a piling mat. All of these aspects take time, and costs can be considerable.