order to match the thickness of the sod.
This would allow for an easier installation
and a level finished surface. To do this, we
used a Koro Field TopMaker 1200 with the
new Terraplane Rotor, which is similar to a
wood planer: it has cutting blades that leave
a clean, even surface. This is one of the first
two machines in the US to have this rotor.
The machine arrived from Holland a week
before the project. It's actually the same
machine used to level the clay courts at
Wimbledon.
We mounted a laser receiver on the machine so we could monitor the depth of the
cut and make sure we removed the exact
amount of clay. The clay was hauled out of
the stadium using a fleet of workmen. We removed less material in the middle of the infield skin, creating a slight crown in order to
help any excess water that hit move toward
the edges of the field and into the rootzone.
The base lines were then cut and removed
using a sod cutter set at 1.25 inches.
All of this work was being done under
the watchful eye of Chelsea Football Club
www.stma.org
head groundsman Jason Griffin, who was
quite impressed with the method we were
using to remove the clay and prepare the
field.
"This isn't new to us," he said of playing soccer in baseball stadiums. "But the
process that they're using out here is a new
way of doing it. It's very good. It is going
to be nice and flat, which is what both
teams want."
The pitcher's mound, which had been
in place since the field was built in 2006,
was being removed at the same time as the
infield. It took the power of an excavator
to get the tightly packed clay broken up so
the mound could be hauled out. Like the
base lines, the mound area was taken down
1.25 inches below grade as well. The
mound clay was kept in one pile, and the
infield clay was kept in another. Both piles
were watered to try and keep the clays hydrated. We did not want them to get too
dry, as this would make it hard to get them
compacted and firm when we reapplied
them to the field.
Top: JASON GRIFFIN, Chelsea's head
groundskeeper, and Steve Bush confirming dimensions on an iPad. Photo by Taka Yanagimoto.
Bottom: BASELINE with clay removed. Photo by
Steve Bush.
SportsTurf 21
