The cost of repairing and maintaining the roads in our forests is increasing and can reach upwards of £6 million a year. However, new technologies available to timber haulage fleets are helping to reduce this significant expense.

In 2016 we took the decision to restrict access to our more fragile forest roads to timber haulage vehicles that utilise low ground pressure technologies.

Our network of low ground pressure-only roads

The following map shows the roads in Scotland's national forests that have been classified for use by low ground pressure haulage vehicles only. You can explore the map using different devices.

How to use the map:

On desktop or laptop:

• click “open a larger version of this map” to launch the full-screen view
• use your mouse scroll wheel or the track pad to zoom in and out
• click and drag to move around the map
• select a route to view more details

On a mobile or tablet:

• tap the link to open the full-screen map
• use pinch gestures to zoom in and out
• swipe to pan across the map
• tap a route to see more information

Open a larger version of this map >>

All haulage vehicles travelling on the restricted network will be configured to the Timber Transport Forum's recommendations for "weak" category forest roads:

Wagon and drag or artic with:

• wider single on steer axle
• double drive axles with Tyre Pressure Control
• twin wheels/maxis with Tyre Pressure Control on trailer

Tread Softly: Lower impact vehicles for timber haulage (PDF 2.5MB)

The policy currently remains under review with the intention of it becoming a condition of future contracts to use appropriate vehicles when transporting timber over the restricted network.