SportsTurf provides current, practical and technical content on issues relevant to sports turf managers, including facilities managers. Most readers are athletic field managers from the professional level through parks and recreation, universities.
Issue link: http://read.dmtmag.com/i/678624
www.stma.org June 2016 | SportsTurf 13 design choices depending on the field location and site-specific requirements with subsurface drainage systems terminating in a catch basin, a siltation area, or infiltration pond/detention area. Additionally, there were three soil profile options that ranged from an amended local soil to a more sophisticated engineered soil section. FINDINGS The study concluded that the initial development cost ranged from $800,000 to over $1 million depending on existing site conditions. A number of factors need to be addressed during design phase that include selecting a preferred plan and soil profile that best fit the site. It will be important to work with a soils engineer to develop a suitable mix for blending of local soils mitigating the heavy clay typical in the area and to identify areas where the topsoil containing organic material will need to be removed. A well-designed automatic or manual irrigation system will be needed to insure maintaining proper soil moisture. The amount of water required will depend on the soil profile, climate and frequency of play. In addition, the design will need to address storm water quality, to comply with the California Regional Water Quality Control Board the Agency, Storm Water Prevention Plan of SWPP, and environmental requirements relative to dust control. Aside from costs, there were a number of other factors that need to be considered. Beyond the obvious challenge of faster play, there is the anticipated increase in player injury from scrapes to more serious injuries such as concussions. Other considerations are the increase in ball scuffing and dust as the field dries out. Soil-based fields do need to be maintained with a specific routine for watering and grooming; these fields cannot be built and forgotten or they will quickly become unusable. A life cost analysis of the soil- based field was developed which compared them to a traditional natural grass and synthetic turf field. The 20-year comparison took into consideration the initial cost, annual maintenance, the cost of local water, and a scheduled field renovation/ replacement program. The total cost for field development and maintenance was divided by the annual hours of availability beyond maintenance, field rest and rain events, all reduced to a cost per hour of available play. The natural grass field allowed for nearly 1,500 of sustainable soccer play and the soil- based fields allowed for nearly 3,000 hours of annual play for soccer while a synthetic turf field can provide up to 3,600 hours. Because the initial cost of the synthetic turf field was higher, the cost per hour of play was also higher than the soil based field examples. The natural grass option cost was nearly double the cost when compared to the soil-based field. It was recommended that the agency develop one or more test plots to learn more of the pros and cons for the recreational athletic use of the soil- based field. Developing more than one plot would allow the opportunity to experiment with soil mixes including adding SBR crumb rubber to the soil recipe. This would provide an opportunity to test each option for surface hardness by either G-max test or the Head Injury Criterion (HIC), which is said to be a more accurate head concuss test. Currently, only synthetic turf fields are subject to impact tests and neither baseball infields nor natural grass fields are subject to either impact test. In either case, the results will be an important component for how a field will need to be constructed and whether or not "dirt" fields are a viable, cost-effective solution for California's drought conditions. At this point, we shouldn't rule out any options. Derek C McKee is Principal / Verde Design, Inc., and Gary Hover is Project Manager / Verde Design, Inc., Santa Clara, CA. Verde Design is an STMA Commercial Member. A dirt field in Tasiilaq, a town in the Sermersooq municipality in southeastern Greenland; with just over 2,000 inhabitants, it is the most populous community on the eastern coast, and the seventh- largest town in Greenland. Pendergast Regional Park in Bremerton, WA. Trona (CA) High School field known as "The Pit." We probably won't see this spot during the Summer Olympics. San Carlos Favela, Rio De Janiero, Brazil.