Sand channel, PSP, Marsden matting

[cletrac (RIP)]

;These are mostly New Zealand pix.

[cletrac (RIP)]

Some more.

[Mike Timoshyk]

Great shots Dave,

I particularly like the one where they are actually using it.....the matting of course...

cheers

Mike in Windsor

[cletrac (RIP)]

Here's some more pix I dug up. The PSP was also known as sand channels. They also used canvas sand mats and rolls of sticks as you can see in some of these pix.

[cletrac (RIP)]

And some more. The captured F8 has quite a bit of sand matting over the bumper.

[David DeWeese]

Hi,
The photos of the matting shown are of an entirely different design than the PSP aircraft landing mat or Marston mat I'm used to seeing here in the US. Are these a Commonwealth style of aircraft landing mat, or a purpose-built item made for unsticking vehicles in sand?
Thanks, David

[cletrac (RIP)]

I doubt if they made any sand channels specifically for the job when they had the airfield stuff. In some of the pix if you look close you can see the links along the edges to hook the planking together. You have to remember that the US didn't get to North Africa until the action there was almost over so the planking would be from a Commonwealth source. The US matting was produced mainly for the Pacific theater. The high manganese content that kept it from rusting wouldn't have been necessary in the Sahara.
The US planks have the pierced holes in rows of three while a lot of this African stuff has them arranged like the 5 on dice. There's a few other patterns there too.
Having said all this, I can't imagine anyone noticing the difference if you hung a US piece on the side of your CMP. Any of it is close enough in my estimation.

[Hanno Spoelstra]

Originally Posted by David DeWeese

The photos of the matting shown are of an entirely different design than the PSP aircraft landing mat or Marston mat I'm used to seeing here in the US. Are these a Commonwealth style of aircraft landing mat, or a purpose-built item made for unsticking vehicles in sand?

Yes, most if not all photos in this thread show steel sand channels. They are steel U-section. Designed and used specifically for crossing soft sand patches with vehicles. There also were canvas sand mats, designed and used for the same purpose. These are not Engineers equipment, but vehicle kit.

Sand channels and sand mats have a totally different purpose from the American PSP / Marsden matting (of which the British equivalent was SMT or Square Mesh Track).

HTH,
Hanno