Ground Protection Mats
HERMEQ supplies track mats for soft or unstable ground, carrying plant, vehicles and site traffic across construction, infrastructure and outdoor event sites. Laid as a run, the mats form temporary roadways, work platforms and access routes that keep wheels and tracks out of the mud and leave the ground beneath intact. The range runs from light duty mats for foot traffic and small vehicles, through medium and heavy duty HDPE mats, to roadway panels tested to 160 tonnes. Civil engineering, groundworks, utilities and event contractors use them wherever traction and surface protection matter, and most mats are held in permanent UK stock with next day delivery.
Light, medium and heavy duty track mats
Plastic track mats in the range carry from 5 to 120 tonnes, and the class to buy follows the heaviest vehicle or machine that will use the route.
Light duty access mats for foot traffic and small vehicles
The light duty access mats are the thinnest and most flexible sheets in the range, so they follow the contours of uneven lawns, verges and gravel. They suit crew walkways, event zones and small vehicles on short jobs where the layout changes from day to day, and two people can lay a run by hand.
Medium duty and narrow access mats
Medium duty access mats take vans, compact excavators and site dumpers over grass and soil, and they stay light enough to move by hand as the work progresses. Where a full width sheet will not fit, narrow track mats cover side access, garden paths and the strip beside a building at a similar load class. For compact wheeled and tracked machines on slippery ground, digger mats carry a raised traction pattern for extra grip.
Heavy duty track mats for plant and HGVs
Heavy duty track mats carry excavators, dumpers, tippers and HGVs. Safe Trak heavy duty mats are dual face sheets built for routes that vehicles and pedestrians share. Eurotrak heavy duty access mats come in full and half width, which lets one route run through both open ground and tight sections. For piling rigs, cranes and the heaviest tracked plant, the 120 tonne heavy duty access mats sit at the top of the sheet range.
Hi-vis track mats
Hi-vis track mats are heavy duty sheets in a high visibility finish, used to mark crossing points, turning areas, loading bays and route edges wherever plant and people meet. They suit depots, laydown yards and event perimeters, and they are the better choice in low light, where a black mat is hard to pick out against wet ground.
Interlocking site floor matting
Interlocking site floor matting is a smaller modular panel that joins without bolts or ties, used for footpaths, marquee and exhibition walkways and pedestrian lanes alongside plant areas. The panels are laid loose on stable bases such as concrete, tarmac, compacted soil or firm grass, and on soft ground a sheet mat carries the load instead.
Used track mats
Used track mats are heavy duty sheets that have been on one job and come back undamaged, with some site dirt on them. They carry the same load class as new mats and suit contractors who need volume for a long haul route, where appearance matters less than cost per mat.
Temporary road mats for cranes and heavy plant
When a route has to carry cranes, piling rigs or a constant flow of HGVs, or the mats will form a working platform, the larger formats below take over from the standard sheet mat.
Mega Track roadway panels
The 160 tonne roadway panels are thick, large format panels for cranes, dumpers and tracked machinery, laid in series for a road or in a grid for a staging pad or work platform. A dedicated connector system locks each panel to its neighbours, and the non-conductive polyethylene suits work near live equipment and overhead power lines.
Aluminium trackway mats and rolls
Aluminium trackway is the format for long, heavy haul roads over grass, gravel and soft ground, such as access to renewable energy projects and emergency logistics routes. Aluminium trackway mats interlock panel to panel and are placed with a telehandler or small machine, which suits platforms and routes with turns. Aluminium trackway rolls lay a continuous road in one length, the faster option on long straight runs.
Dura-Base composite crane mats
Dura-Base composite crane mats are single-piece, compression-moulded HDPE mats many times thicker than a sheet mat, used for crane pads, piling platforms and work areas on industrial and infrastructure projects. Their non-absorbent surface does not carry contamination or invasive species from one site to the next. Where transport weight matters, the lighter Dura-Base 800 mats give the same compressive strength with less to lift.
Track mat load ratings on soft ground
A track mat rating describes what the mat carries when the ground beneath supports the load, which is why every rating in the range is given depending on ground conditions. A mat spreads weight over a wider area, but on soft clay, waterlogged fields or made ground the soil gives way before the mat does, so the sound choice there is a class above the heaviest machine. HERMEQ's own guidance for its 80 tonne Safe Trak mats is to run loads of up to 50 tonnes on medium to soft ground.
Outriggers and stabilisers concentrate the whole lifting load onto a few small feet, so crane and access platform set-ups need outrigger pads or a crane mat beneath each foot in addition to the matting route.
Laying and joining track matting
Which face goes up
Heavy duty mats have two working faces: a deep traction face that grips tyres and tracks, and a flatter pedestrian face for foot traffic. Lay the traction face up on vehicle routes and the pedestrian face up on walkways, and where people and vehicles share one route, let the vehicle traffic decide. Light and medium duty mats pair a diamond grip face with a smooth underside, which goes face down on lawns, sports turf and finished surfaces so the mat does not mark them.
Connectors, cable ties and U-pins
The hand holes in each sheet double as connection points. Connector kits lock adjoining corners together on haul routes, while heavy duty cable ties hold a run on delicate surfaces or short jobs. On slopes, in slippery ground or wherever a run starts to creep, steel U-pins driven through the holes into the soil hold the mats in place.
Planning quantities with the mat calculator
The track mat calculator works out how many mats cover a given area for each mat type, so a route or platform can be priced before ordering. Allow extra mats for widening at bends, turning heads and the points where vehicles come on and off the run.
Track mats for construction, utilities and events
Construction haul routes and compounds
On construction and groundworks sites, track mats form haul routes, site entrances, compounds and laydown areas, and they keep plant moving through the wet months when an unmade road would rut. Heavy duty sheets cover most of this work, and Universal Trak mats give contractors one heavy sheet to standardise on across several sites.
Utilities, rail and civil engineering
Utility, telecoms and rail work often crosses verges, farmland and private land, where the contractor carries the reinstatement cost. Mats spread the weight of vans, excavators and welfare units so the surface is neither rutted nor compacted, and vehicle ground protection mats give vans and lorries a firm route to the working area.
Events, festivals and sports grounds
Event organisers lay mats for production vehicles, back-of-house roads, marquee and stage access and public walkways over turf that has to be presentable or playable afterwards. Light and medium duty mats are quick to lay and lift between build, show and break, while heavy duty mats take the generators, staging lorries and catering units that arrive during the build.
Track mats, road plates and grass grids
Track mats spread load across a surface, and several jobs that look similar need a different product. For vehicles crossing an open excavation, road plates span the gap where a mat would sag into it. Over footways and narrow openings, trench covers do the same job, and trench bridges carry pedestrians across wider trenches. Very soft ground, such as peat or saturated fields, calls for bog mats, the stiffer timber mats that bridge soft spots under heavy plant.
Parking on grass that stays in place for years is a job for heavy duty grass grids, which are filled with soil and let the grass grow through. Truck paving does the same for lorries, coaches and forklifts on permanent yards and overflow parking.
Popular Categories
Road Plates
View Products >
Bog Mats / Timber Mats
View Products >
Foot Ramps & Trench Covers
View Products >
Frequently Asked Questions
What size is a standard track mat?
The standard track mat is a 2.4m by 1.2m sheet, close to the 8ft by 4ft size the trade often asks for, and most light, medium and heavy duty mats in the range share that footprint. Narrow and half width versions are made for tight routes. Roadway panels, composite crane mats and aluminium trackway are larger formats for working platforms and long haul roads.
What are track mats made of?
Most track mats in the range are moulded from recycled high density polyethylene (HDPE), which does not absorb water, rot or splinter. The 160 tonne roadway panels use ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene and the Dura-Base mats are compression-moulded HDPE. Trackway mats and rolls are made from aluminium.
Can track mats be cut or drilled to fit?
HDPE track mats can be trimmed with a jigsaw to fit around posts, drains and kerbs. Light duty mats come without fixed connector holes and can be drilled where a joined layout is needed.
Do track mats work in frost and heavy rain?
The HDPE mats resist frost and UV, so they stay in service through wet winters and hot summers. The traction face keeps its grip in rain and mud.
Are track mats recyclable?
The HDPE mats in the range are made from recycled plastic and can be recycled again at the end of their working life. Aluminium trackway is fully recyclable, and the Dura-Base composite mats are recycled through dedicated programmes.