A young serviceman pauses along a walkway of pierced steel planking at a Pacific base camp during World War II. This interlocking steel matting, commonly called Marston Mat, was rapidly laid down to create roads, walkways, and airstrips at forward bases across the Pacific, transforming sand and mud into usable surfaces almost overnight. The tent city visible behind him reflects the improvised, mobile nature of American advance bases established as forces moved island to island toward Japan. Project: 218194