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/96775
Irrigation&Drainage >> MIRAGE HEADS "cannon out" irrigation coverage to 174 feet. Within 12 minutes the entire field can be irrigated for cleaning, cooling and prepping for field hockey practice and games. With nearly 13 acres of artificial turf on the campus, Graydon knows the subject. Bedford Field became his research lab for cutting-edge technologies. "Working with the AstroTurf company's fiber, coatings and urethane technical team, we created a system that we believe will meet the challenges set by the FIH (International Hockey Federation) to retain water while providing the most consistent surface for play," says Graydon. AstroTurf 12 JG is engineered with a premium knitted nylon system designed to provide uniform traction and consistent footing. It enhances playability when wet and absorbs water to maintain wet conditions longer. "Synthetic turf has changed the game of field hockey by speeding up the sport, inspiring new tactics and techniques, and rules to accommodate a faster game," he says. Along with the new turf, a central feature of the Bedford Field improvements is a drainage system designed to hold a consistent amount of water over a longer period while providing fast surface drainage to prevent puddles. "Vertical drainage is a major component of any synthetic turf plan," says Graydon. 24 SportsTurf | December 2012 "There is a need to balance that drainage with field hockey's requirements to retain some water by the hydrophilic turf. A wet but not soggy surface is the key to top-level performance. In addition, we had to balance water retention and drainage with environmental concerns. Storm water management is critical to Princeton's sustainability goals," he says. The university originally considered a storage tank to retain rainwater for field irrigation, but instead chose to improve the water-holding capacity of the turf, along with a fast, efficient drainage system. AstroTurf engineers worked with Graydon to devise AstroTurf 12 JG, a system with a 3mm urethane backing created with a uniform pattern of drainage holes in the turf. This allows the field to retain the right amount of water, while still allowing it to drain quickly and efficiently during periods of heavy rainfall. Large test plots were installed adjacent to Bedford in fall 2011 and evaluations continued through spring 2012. These tests demonstrated that the new turf and drainage systems worked efficiently and met expectations for moisture retention, planarity and resilience. www.sportsturfonline.com