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: https://read.dmtmag.com/i/147380
Facility&Operations With heavy rain predicted, we covered the entire infield with tarp at the end of the day. Everything was going smoothly, and we were on schedule. WHEN IT RAINS… That night, severe thunderstorms tore through the St. Louis area. I was awake in the middle of the night, listening to the thunder and watching as it poured outside. I was glued to the weather radar on my iPad while the storm dumped 1.5 inches of rain on the field. At that point, I wasn't terribly concerned, since we had A RIPPED TARP and saturated infield. Photo by Steve Bush. covered the field with the infield tarp. But when we showed up Tuesday morning, the situation was a little damper than my outlook. The strong winds that accompanied the storm had ripped the field tarp, and the first base side of the skin was full of water. Without wasting a minute, the Cardinals' grounds crew started doing everything they could to get rid of the water and wet clay. They used pumps, squeegees, rakes, brooms, shovels and conditioner. Some of the clay had to be completely removed, as it was totally saturated, and we did not have time to wait for it to dry. Simultaneously, our crew PUTTING ICE in BILLY FINDLEY, left, began working on the portions of the skin that were still the rolls of sod. and Steve Bush, right, dry enough to work with. A pass with a laser box blade was Photo by Steve Bush. painting turf. made on everything to confirm the grade and smooth out any minor imperfections. The plastic was then laid down and taped, and sod was installed. By afternoon, the first base side had dried enough that it could be graded and sodded as well. To ensure tight, unnoticeable seams, the thick-cut sod was pushed into place using our Sod Slider. The Slider is a hydraulic, tractormounted device that pushes or pulls sod into position. We developed the Slider in 2011 when we were installing more than six acres of sod at Halas Hall for the Bears. Tight seams are critical, especially in soccer, as a bad seam can have a dramatic impact on the ball roll. The sod was rolled INSTALLING SOD and with a 2-ton vibratory roller, and we were pleased with the tightening the seams. smooth, even surface we had achieved. Photo by Steve Bush. Once the infield was completed, the entire field was mowed and turf paint applied to help blend the old sod When the sod arrived, we did everything we could to keep the with the new. They were nearly identical in color, but some of the rolls cool and in the shade, so we took advantage of Busch Stanew sod was stressed and had yellowed very slightly. Normally, it dium's gigantic ice machines. We filled Gators with ice and hauled would grow out of it, but we only had one day to work with. All of it outside to the staging area. We then used a special scoop we built the newly installed sod was hand-watered, so as not to get too much to pack ice into each of the tubes in the sod. This lowered the temwater on top of the plastic. Once the paint dried, the infield was perature in the middle of the rolls of sod, where they usually are covered with the tarp for the night. prone to overheat and burn out. First thing Wednesday morning, we sodded the corners on the By the end of the first day, we had all of the clay removed and warning track. We left this for very last to avoid cutting off access to had installed sod at home plate, the baselines and the pitcher's the field. Once the corners were installed, the field literally exmound. The 1.25-inch thick sod lined up perfectly with the existtended from wall-to-wall at Busch Stadium. ing grass. The 6 mil plastic was installed under all of the sod, and The warning track material was removed and tapered away from the seams were sealed with tape. We had to make sure the clay bethe field. Plastic was put down, mostly to keep the sand from conneath the sod did not get wet, as this might make the areas unstataminating the warning track material. It was starting to get really ble, and make it difficult to reassemble the field after the game. hectic as they were setting up for the practice game; the band was 22 SportsTurf | August 2013 www.sportsturfonline.com