Mammi71
(One feature, Six mappers and still More ways to map it)
1
I have a beach access here with a mat. This mat is designed to make access easier, especially for pushchairs and wheelchair users. There are even wheelchair-accessible beach chairs at one of the beach access points.
So far I have only mapped the beach access with surface=plastic, but plastc is too general for me. Is there a better tag? Or a specific term in English? I have only found one provider in the US: PathMat Beach Access
Walkway Matting
The problem with this is you need a =*_mat for all the materials, eg 11 =woven_mat , and 8 =rubber_mat . Then there are 16 =mats , and 11 =mat . surface= has a scalability challenge when mixing the composition, with the structure. Eg =metal_grid , and =fibre_reinforced_polymer_grate / =frp:grate / =plastic_grate (Google suggests 49k "plastic grate" , compared to 5k "polymer grate" ; similar magnitude difference in grating ) . Talk:Key:surface - OpenStreetMap Wiki
Long ago, the possibility separating them was once suggested Proposal:Surface unification - OpenStreetMap Wiki =plastic is fine , as it shows how it is more easily rolled across. =mat could be better to be material-agnostic, if we donât care about =plastic vs =rubber . However they are more numerous, and one is âde factoâ , though at 3k, fewer than the other at 3.7k. The description doesnât match yet. Tag:surface=rubber - OpenStreetMap Wiki
This is similar to the description, but not the typical appearance of surface=grass_paver. Iâd expect load rating to be very different too.
Grating seems to be in use more, but I think of the ones recorded on taginfo mesh is a better description. I would expect a grating to be something that can support a weight over a span and mesh to be something lower profile like the stuff youâve shown.
surface=mesh only has one use but it looks like it would be the appropriate tag if we were splitting off the material.
Are they fully on top or sunk in like the one pictured in this note? That sort of surface doesnât fit the picture on the grass_paver page but do fit product listings that appear when you search for grass pavers.
For the more substantial version of them that sink into the substrate the grid tags seem more appropriate to me, although many of them appear to be used for what I would call grating (when they actually span empty space).
I think the issue with having these in the surface tag is that there are fundamentally two surfaces at work the one formed by the top of the re-enforcement and the one from the underlying material that is being re-enforced.
Maybe we need surface=mesh or surface=grid depending on structure and secondary tags of surface:substrate=* for whatâs in the gaps.
Itâs not really âsubstrateâ? That seems it refers to what the grass is growing on, whether soil, sandy, or gravels. Rather, the grass, or sand, is the original ground, and whatâs above is an overlay.
But yes, the other lack of scalability can be identified in =grass_paver . Shouldnât have =sand_paver and =ground_paver , or =mat_on_sand and =mat_on_grass .
And indeed, the other question as you raised is =grass_paver being archetypically used for cars in carparks. Itâs described as " large deliberate voids", and the âcell wallâ paving structure is thought to be thick. Yet some small ones are still branded as âgrass paversâ. https://www.landscapediscount.com/NDS-Tufftrack-Grass-Pavers-TT-24-p/tt-24.htm
On the wording, âmatâ and others might be 2 different aspects. A mat is something put on something else. It can be continously filled without gaps similar to the soft =carpet , or it can be griddy and meshy. I only mentioned grates as a comparison, and that was discussed for independent raised structures that are grated / perforated .
To elaborate on perforating, gratings can be produced by expanded (stretched) sheets, joining bars/plates, welding or weaving wires, and perforating (punching holes, or stamping). So they could be distinguished in industrial terminology. Metal Grating: What Is It? How Is It Used? Types Of
Found photos something advertised as âmatâ on grates above some ground https://www.safetygripsolutions.com/products/rig-grip-anti-slip-products/walkway-mats/
The ones in the example I was thinking on are indeed sunk into the grass. You find plenty of examples online when you look for âgrass gridâ.
As for the grass_paver value: Itâs true that these plastic elements are also sometimes called âgrass paverâ. However, It seems clear to me that the meaning of the OSM surface value is narrower and only refers to the concrete blocks. (For what itâs worth, the German documentation uses the term âRasengittersteineâ, i.e. âgrass paver stonesâ, to define the value.)
Mammi71
(One feature, Six mappers and still More ways to map it)
9
As you can see in this picture, these are two different things:
In the foreground: grass paver, here filled with fine white sand from the Baltic Sea
At the moment I have tagged it with surface=grass_paver, material=plastic. But I can also live with grass_grid.
Behind it: the so-called beach access mats, for which I am looking for a suitable OSM tagging.
Why are these different things?
The grass grids remain permanently in the ground, replacing them is more time-consuming. But they are more stable.
The beach access mats are only laid on the dune and beach sand and only fixed in the sand at the ends with long steel nails. These mats are probably only in place during the bathing season from May to October and can be quickly rolled up and removed when the autumn storms start or when the beach sand needs to be cleaned. The gaps are not filled, the sand seeps through.
look here: Tourismusverband Fischland-DarĂ-Zingst â Sandmatte - EcoTrade Leipzig GmbH
