Diamond Grid

Diamond Grid is an interlocking grid tile moulded from 100% recycled polypropylene. It is laid over a prepared base and filled with road base, gravel, pebbles, grass, soil, concrete or asphalt. The filled cells carry the load while water passes straight through the surface instead of running across it.

That is the drainage argument. A concrete apron or a compacted hardstand sheds everything it catches, so the water arrives somewhere else in a hurry and usually takes topsoil with it. A permeable surface puts the same rain into the ground where it falls, which cuts both the runoff you then have to pipe away and the washouts that follow.

Filled with gravel or road base it is rated at over 7,000 tonnes per square metre, which is why it is used on mine haul roads and fixed plant pavements as well as driveways. Empty, the bare grid still carries 300 tonnes per square metre, so it takes construction traffic before the fill goes in.

Where it earns its money on a farm is the places that keep failing: the gateway that turns to soup every winter, the track that corrugates, the shed surround that potholes, trough pads and stockyards. Against a 400 mm concrete slab the manufacturer puts the total saving at up to 76%, with no curing time and no downtime, and the grid can be lifted and relaid rather than broken out.

Specifications

Manufacturer’s figures. Crush resistance depends on fill and on sub-base preparation - the base does as much work as the grid.