Ground protection mats are impressive pieces of equipment, providing multiple potential usage options. Whenever you need to protect a grass area from heavy foot, machine or vehicular traffic, this style of sod protection system is the best choice.

These mats can be used repeatedly, thanks to a heavy duty design featuring premium materials that often can withstand loads of 35 tons or more … sometimes much more. Even when the turf is soft from rain water or thawing from the winter, these tough, primarily American-made polyethylene plastic tiles will keep the ground safe.

To start the search for the best ground protection mats, here are some potential use cases that may match your needs.

Creating a temporary road. Creating a temporary road for a remote construction project is one of the most popular reasons to begin using ground protection mats. Rather than tearing up the ground around the construction area, causing extra expense for a landscaper at the end of the project, the premium mats give vehicles a safe place to drive while keeping the ground intact.

These mats may need to remain in place for several weeks or even months, continuing to provide a safe and durable roadway. You won’t have to drag in rock or stone to create the roadway, which can cause a problem when you want to be able to plant grass or a garden area around a building after the construction process ends.

Creating a temporary sidewalk. Another common occurrence at a construction site is bringing in people for tours. Perhaps clients would like to inspect the progress of a job. Having people randomly walk around a construction site can create the potential for accidents, however.

To keep visitors to the construction site safe, and to reduce your liability, lay out these mats as a temporary sidewalk. This gives visitors a natural place to walk, rather than roaming anywhere they want. The polyethylene material often will have a non-slip or textured surface, which further keeps visitors safe.

And if the visitors will be dressed in business attire, the material in the temporary sidewalk will keep shoes and clothing clean, rather than having visitors walk through dust and mud.

Protecting delicate surfaces. Schools or athletic facilities will often make use of ground protection mats for areas that are used for multiple purposes.

For example, many schools have a football/soccer field in the middle of a running track oval. Rather than having football and soccer players walk across the delicate track surface in their cleats, schools will place the mats over the track surface. Players can walk on the mats, keeping the track safe from damage.

Protecting grassy areas. If you drive a tractor or skid steer over a grass yard, chances are the tread will tear up the ground, resulting in the potential for mud. Even lightweight vehicles and regular foot traffic can scar the lawn if the ground is damp.

By using protective materials over the grass field, it will remain intact, no matter how often vehicles or people travel across it. In a grassy area at a cemetery, for example, you can use transparent ground protection mats. These will create a temporary pathway, while allowing sunlight to reach the grass.

Protecting sidewalks. When driving heavy equipment in residential areas to work on power lines or trees, you may have to drive the vehicle over a sidewalk. This can cause the cement slabs to heave out of place, resulting in a costly repair. Or if you must make a sharp 90- or 180-degree turn while atop the sidewalk, you could cause the concrete to crumble.

Instead, make use of ground protection mats for a temporary roadway over the sidewalk. A tree service company or power company using a large crane to do its work will be able to use these mats to avoid causing sidewalk damage in a residential location.

Or if you must drive large vehicles across areas with old bricks or masonry as a sidewalk, damage will likely occur without the use of a series of connected heavy duty driving mats.

Protecting event areas. For setting up a carnival, a farmer’s market, or a concert stage in a non-traditional setting, such as a farm, you may need to drive heavy trucks, perhaps even a semi, to haul in the necessary equipment.

Making use of ground protection mats allows you to protect the ground as you unload equipment. By keeping the ground in the event area intact, you’ll reduce the chance of creating muddy puddles in the torn-up ground in case of rain. And you’ll reduce the possibility of a patron tripping over uneven ground.

In event areas, these mats are especially useful, because you can lay them out as needed and then disassemble and store them quickly. You can haul in the heavy equipment you need, all without leaving behind any trace of the vehicles that did the work.

Ground protection mats buying guide. For more information on purchasing or using these products, just click any of the links listed here. The links include usage ideas, testimonials, review articles, and videos with demonstrations.