Revised December 24, 2025
This article was originally published in September, 2023. As of December 2025, the Eucalyptus timber mats featured in this article are expected to last about 6-7 years.
Introduction
In wetlands, the wrong matting choice can destroy habitat, trigger regulatory problems, and add months and lots of money to restoration work. Eucalyptus timber mats in wetlands give utilities and contractors a way to protect sensitive ground and still move heavy equipment efficiently.
Eucalyptus timber mats in wetlands are an especially effective alternative to typical mixed hardwood mats. They help utilities and contractors protect sensitive ground, meet agency requirements, and still move heavy equipment efficiently.
Why Wetlands are Tricky for Timber Mats
Wetlands are tricky for timber mats for four reasons:
- Significant risk if timber mat implementation doesn’t work.
- Competing interests of work efficiency with government regulation.
- Timber mat strength, which directly affects how many timber mats will be needed.
- Recovery of timber mats from wetlands.
A recent Chesapeake Bay Magazine article highlighted how Eucalyptus timber mats protected sensitive wetlands during a major Virginia construction project.
Why Wetlands Need Better Ground Protection than Typical Landscapes
Wetlands are a hot spot in timber mat usage. That’s for two reasons.
- Cart before the horse: You need timber mats to support your heavy equipment across a wetland right of way. But, you can’t get your equipment out to the right of way without support.
- High government agency scrutiny.
In a “normal” landscape a contractor might use 1500 timber mats/mile. In wetlands some sections may need 5, 10, or 15 mats deep to deal with water flow. That’s one place where a stronger mat like Eucalyptus really helps. (We’ll skip the engineering but the strength difference between mixed hardwoods at 550 PSI bending strength and Eucalyptus at 2000 PSI bending strength makes a big difference in number of mats required.
How Did This Situation Develop?
Long before timber mats were invented 40 years ago, early Americans felled trees across muddy and wet areas to allow horses and wagons to traverse. 300 years ago wetlands covered about 220 millin acres. Now, it’s about 100 million acres.
Furthermore, wetlands provide significant benefits to humans from flood control to fish.
Enter environmental protection agencies.
Eucalyptus Timber Mats as a Solution
Utilities are on the hook for environmental infractions even if their contractors caused those issues.
That’s why having the correct timber mat plus the correct design is so important. In this case, Daniel Rickmond PE from Bruce Howard Contracting designed an innovative access program with innovative Eucalyptus timber mats.
Because Eucalyptus timber mats are stronger and lighter than mixed hardwood mats, he needed less Eucalyptus mats to implement his plan.
Furthermore, the local utility’s environmental review group gave him and the innovative access solution an outstanding grade.
Eucalyptus timber mats for wetland work are an especially effective alternative to typical mats.
