Marsden Matting / PSP

[Warbird Kid]

Hey all,

Don't know if it's been asked before but, does anyone know of any large caches of Marsden Matting still around? Or for sale by any chance? Any on the east coast per chance? Thanks!

[P51Mstg]

Don't know of any but you may want to be a little more specific on your term "large".... Like enough to put under a fighter or a bomber or do you want to build a runway?


http://www.calumetindustries.com/?cat=32

I'm guessing its not cheap either...

Mark H

[Warbird Kid]

Don't know of any but you may want to be a little more specific on your term "large".... Like enough to put under a fighter or a bomber or do you want to build a runway?


http://www.calumetindustries.com/?cat=32

I'm guessing its not cheap either...

Mark H

Well... for any needs of ours it would probably be for a single fighter. For Geneseo… I wish they had enough for three B-17s!

[John Dupre]

Haven't any idea where to find any. But I am curious whether the Axis powers used PSP or something similar?

[Pathfinder]

Well, if you want to buy somebody a fence....check out Google street view of

CMT/Star Iron & Metal

1031-1069 Howell Mill Rd
Atlanta, GA 30318

[Pooner]

I remember seeing huge stacks of PSP in one of the storage yards at Barstow Truck Parts & Equipment, Barstow, CA about five years ago that was still banded and marked for overseas shipment with late WWII era dates. I assumed this had been produced at or near the Kaiser steel mill in Fontana during the war years as we'd ramped up for the pending invasion of Japan. The stacked slabs of fresh PSP were HUGE and the only way to have moved them around would have been with a heavy crane. They would have been a heck of a load in a Liberty ship chugging across the Pacific.

Someone associated with the business told me they purchased rows of it at a military surplus auction in California many years prior, so obviously this stuff had been in the military supply chain thru the war, past Korea and long after Vietnam. Pretty amazing that we'd made so much of it during the war years there was no need for anyone to have manufactured it after the dies most likely had been scrapped. A lot of it had been purchased by contractors and used as fencing along the US and Mexico border station areas.

I'd heard Calumet Industries bought the entire inventory from Barstow Truck, and it must've cost a fortune for them to ship it to their facility in Oklahoma. I have no idea what they sell a "stick" of it for, but it's amazing stuff. I'd thought to myself that building a matted area with straight and brand-new stuff would have been something to see (coming from the guy who has tried to weave old and bent pieces together).

- Robert in PHX

[Chunks]

I have no idea what they sell a "stick" of it for,

My memory is terrible, but...wait, what was I saying? Oh yea, 4 or 5 years ago Calumet was selling psp for $54 per section, each section was I believe 10' X 2' and weighed about 50#. They lost a lot of their inventory to a tornado but I bet most of that matt stayed put. Contact them via their website and request a quote, best way to find out.

Chunks

[Jerry O'Neill]

John, the German's had another type of ground stabilization item. It was something like a hexagonal brick, laid down, it would fit together. I would allow grass to grow up between the large sections. Not sure it was used for runways, but certainly for hard stands. Lots of pics on the net of them. Here's one:

[Warbirdnerd]

Hey all,

Don't know if it's been asked before but, does anyone know of any large caches of Marsden Matting still around? Or for sale by any chance? Any on the east coast per chance? Thanks!

Did you find some? If not, here is a new listing...
http://aviationwarehouse.net/novelties-for-sale.html

[Malo83]

Probably tons of it lying around the Philippines
http://myphilippinelife.com/the-jeepney ... in-iloilo/