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/27931
the drainage into one of our infields and what a difference that made for us. The price is a little bit more than the traditional drainage. However, I believe it is well worth it. Once they are done it does take some time for the grass to grow back over the lines. The problem that I am hav- ing right now is trying to get my overseed to pop. What we did was get some dormant 419 and put it into the lines so that the seed had a base to grow out of and the dor- mant sod allowed some water to stay for the seed. I would highly recommend it to any sports turf professional. THOMAS MARKS, HEAD GROUNDSKEEPER, New Orleans Zephyrs Zephyr Field was built in 1997 by a gen- eral contractor who installed round, perfo- rated pipe with 4-inch collector lines and 6 and 8-inch mains to carry the water off as the main drainage collection system. Our staff had to physically move water around in the grass areas to try and play games after our traditional afternoon thunderstorms. When a total field renovation was neces- sary 10 seasons later, sections of that pipe were found to have been absolutely crushed. The manufacturer’s specs had not been followed and not enough fill had been put on top of the pipe; you tell what kind of vehicles had been over it because the tire tracks were on the old pipe! I researched drainage products and called my fellow groundskeepers for advice, and eventually decided on flat pipe. Rich Moffitt from St. Louis rebuilt the field and he also recommended the flat pipe system. To me the biggest key to this choice was the infiltration rate since it rains somewhere in New Orleans nearly every day. I often get 3-4 inches of rain in an hour on the field. For example, one August day at 3:00 pm an afternoon thunderstorm moved over the ballpark. By 3:30 pm the only things visible on the field were the infield and bullpen tarps. By 3:45 pm the stadium had received 3.17 inches of rain. With help of our front office staff to dump the tarp, we were play- ing by 7:30 pm. The 12-inch lines on 15-foot centers are able to dewater the surface fast enough for our team to play. They removed 17,000 feet of 4-inch drain and installed 12-inch flat pipe due to the liner that was 12 inches below the playing surface. The field began being ripped up in Jan- uary, new sod was laid the first week of March, and after fertilizing and aerifying, the turf was ready for play by March 30. ■has gone mobile! Now you can access all the latest news and events anywhere, anytime. Simply visit www.sportsturfonline.com/mobile4 to stay connected. www.stma.org SportsTurf 41