CA2699910C

CA2699910C - Modular roadway

Info

Publication number: CA2699910C
Application number: CA2699910A
Authority: CA
Inventors: Craig Corser
Original assignee: Individual
Current assignee: Individual
Priority date: 2010-04-13
Filing date: 2010-04-13
Publication date: 2017-05-09
Anticipated expiration: 2030-04-13
Also published as: CA2699910A1; US20110250014A1

Abstract

A roadway is formed by a plurality of mats flexibly connected together at their ends. The mats are rectangular in configuration to form straight sections of the roadway and trapezoidal in configuration to form curved sections. Each mat comprises a flat platform of transverse wooden boards secured to side rails at their ends. The mats are tied together at their ends by overlapping flat steel plates secured together by bolts to form connections. The connections have sufficient flexibility to allow the mats to conform to uneven terrain. The rails function as curbs to prevent a vehicle, passing along the roadway, from slipping off sideways. The mats are relatively light, allowing manual installation.

Description

MODULAR ROADWAY
FIELD OF THE INVENTION
This application relates to mats which can be assembled end-to-end to form a roadway over uneven ground for use by light vehicles, such as quads, all terrain vehicles and golf carts, and individuals.
BACKGROUND
The present system was initially developed to enable the construction of temporary roadway sections over marshy uneven ground, to thereby provide access for light vehicles, such as quads, to sites such as an oil drilling site.
It has long been known to provide corduroy roadways for this purpose by laying logs in side-by-side array over the marshy ground. However this is time-consuming and expensive to do and requires the availability of properly sized lumber.
There has therefore long existed a need for an alternative. The present invention addresses this need.
SUMMARY
Applicant set out to provide such an alternative with certain criteria in mind, namely:
= a modular system of mats was needed whereby the mats could be linked together end-to-end to form a roadway;
= the links, while sturdy, needed to be flexible enough to allow limited pivoting between adjacent mat ends and thereby enable the roadway to maintain contact with uneven ground;
= the mats needed to be adapted to provide a roadway which could follow a curved path and/or a straight path;
= the mats should be light enough to be manually carried by two men;
= the mats needed to be capable of supporting a quad for travel thereover;

= the mats needed to be adapted to prevent a vehicle such as a quad from slipping off sideways; and = it was preferable that the mats be formed of biodegradable material.
As the component for constructing straight sections of the roadway, a rectangular mat is provided comprising:
= a flat platform of transverse rectangular boards aligned in spaced apart, side by side formation;
= rails secured to the platform to form a coherent unit therewith and extending upwardly therefrom along the side edges thereof, for providing curbs to resist sideways sliding of a quad passing over the platform;
= optionally, downwardly projecting, spaced apart straps extending longitudinally of the underside of the platform and secured to the platform, for reinforcing and supporting the platform and cooperating with the rails and boards to form a coherent structure; and = disengagable links, for example flat steel plates bolted on the ends of the rails, for flexibly linking one mat end to another in end to end alignment;
= the mat being light enough to be manually conveyed by two men.
For constructing curved sections of the roadway, a mat is provided having a trapezoidal platform, formed of trapezoidally shaped boards and having side edges of unequal length.
When a roadway is formed in one embodiment, it comprises at least one linear section of rectangular mats flexibly linked together end-to-end alignment, each such mat comprising a flat platform formed of rectangular boards, arranged side by side and secured to rails extending upwardly therefrom along the side edge portions of the platform, for providing curbs; and at least one curved section of trapezoidal mats flexibly linked together in end to end formation and to the linear section, each trapezoidal mat having a flat platform formed of trapezoidally shaped boards and side rails, the platform having side edges of unequal length.
Preferably, the mats are formed of wood and are light enough to be individually carried by two men.

2 Preferably the disengagable means for linking mats are apertured flat steel plates bolted to and projecting beyond the ends of the rails, the plate of one mat rail being bolted to a plate of an adjacent mat rail.
Broadly stated, a roadway is provided comprising a formation of mats flexibly linked together in end to end alignment, some of the mats being rectangular in configuration and linked together to form a straight section of the roadway, some of the mats being trapezoidal in configuration and linked together to form a curved section of the roadway.
DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
Figure 1 is a perspective view of a straight section of a temporary roadway formed of mats linked together in end-to-end alignment and extending over uneven ground;
Figure 2 is a closer up view of part of the roadway of Figure 1 showing detail of the linking means;
Figure 3 is a perspective end view of a rectangular mat;
Figure 4 is a perspective end view of a pair of trapezoidal mats for use in a curved section of roadway;
Figure 5 is a side view of a connection linking adjacent mats together in end-to-end formation; and Figure 6 is a schematic plan view of a roadway comprising straight and curved sections.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT
In general, a roadway 1 in accordance with the invention comprises straight and curved sections 2, 3 of rectangular and trapezoidal mats 4, 5, flexibly linked together in end-to-end alignment.
In one embodiment, each rectangular mat 4 comprises a rectangular wooden platform 6; the platform is 8' in length and formed of 5/4" x 6" x 6' lodgepole pine boards 7 laid in transverse, parallel, spaced apart, side-by-side formation.
The boards 7 are secured by steel bolts 8 to a pair of spaced apart, underlying 2" x 4"

3 longitudinally extending straps 9, for reinforcement. A pair of 2" x 4" x 18' boards are stacked along each side edge of the platform 6 to form a side rail 11.
Each side rail 11 is secured to the platform 6 by bolts 12. Each side rail 11 extends the length of the platform 6 and provides a curb for resisting sideways slippage off the roadway 1 5 by a vehicle, such as a quad, passing along the roadway 1.
Flat steel plates 15, forming bolt holes 16, are disengagably secured by bolts 17 to the side rails 11. Each plate 15 projects beyond an end of the side rail 11 to which it is secured. The projecting portion 18 of each plate 15 forms a bolt hole 19.
As shown in Figure 4, the projecting portions 18 of adjacent plates 15 overlap when 10 the plates 15 are brought together. As shown in Figure 5, a bolt 20 and plastic washer 21 ties the adjacent plates 15 together to form a connection 22. The connections 22 function to flexibly link adjacent mats 4, 5 together in end-to-end alignment.
As shown in Figures 4 and 6, trapezoidal mats 5 are provided to form the curved sections 3 of the roadway 1. Each trapezoidal mat 5 conforms in construction with the rectangular mat 4 except that: the platform 6 is formed of trapezoidically shaped boards 23; the trapezoidal mats 5 are shorter in length than the rectangular mats 4 and incorporate fewer platform boards than the rectangular mats 4; and the sides 24, 25 of each trapezoidal mat 6 are unequal in length.
The mats 4, 5 are light enough to be carried by two men ¨ typically the wooden rectangular mats 4 weigh about 180 pounds.
It is contemplated that variants can be substituted for components of the mats just described. For example: cables can lash the ends of the mats together to provide the flexible links; and the boards, rails and straps can be formed of strong rigid plastic. Such variants are within the scope of the claims now following.

4

Claims

1. A roadway for use by light vehicles on uneven ground, comprising:
a plurality of wooden mats flexibly linked together end-to-end by disengagable links so that adjacent mat ends can pivot relative to each other to allow the mats to follow the contours of underlying uneven ground;
the mats having rails extending upwardly along their side edges to provide curbs;
each mat being sufficiently compact and light so that it can be manually carried by two men for assembly in the field to form the roadway;
some of the mats are rectangular in configuration, to form straight sections of the roadway, and some of the mats are trapezoidal in configuration, to form curved sections of the roadway;
each rectangular mat comprising a rectangular platform formed by rectangular boards arranged in aligned, spaced apart, side by side formation so that the boards extend transversely across the mat and each trapezoidal mat comprising a trapezoidal platform formed by trapezoidal boards arranged in aligned, spaced apart, side by side formation so that the boards extend transversely across the mat;
the rails and platform of each mat being secured together to form a coherant structure.

2. The roadway as set forth in claim 1 wherein at least some of the mats have downwardly extending protrusions for anchoring the roadway to the underlying ground.

3. The roadway as set forth in claim 2 wherein the links are mounted to the ends of the rails.

4. The roadway as set forth in claim 1, 2 or 3 wherein each mat comprises straps extending longitudinally of the underside of the platform and secured thereto for reinforcing and supporting the platform, said straps cooperating with the rails and boards to form a coherant structure.