Ray I have stabilization mat under my riding arena, been there about 20 yrs, and the top layers (1 inch of washed sand and 3 inches of wood chips) have been removed and replaced with heavy eqipment several times no problem. The mat went down after a top layer of topsoil was removed, and then a layer of packed road mix was put on top and crowned.
I also have a new section of driveway with mat under it, to a new barn, through a region that would be otherwise undriveable in wet weather, 3 winters, so far so good. Same road mix on top. About 3 inches. Road mix is kind of a sand clay small rock mix, it packs. They also removed the topsoil first and graded it before unrolling the mat.