Facility & Operations
if the high-wear areas are maintained separately. But again, the
key is to follow the operations and maintenance guidelines
submitted by your manufacturer and keeping in touch with
your manufacturer's rep for the life of the field. A phone call
or e-mail with pictures of any area of concern can be handled
quickly by the manufacturer's rep and can keep the field manager
protected."
However, when regular repairs can no longer keep the play-
ing surface consistent, when the field starts feeling hard, looking
bald or patchy or shiny, or when other symptoms appear, it is
time to take that next step.
Having the field replaced might seem like a daunting pros-
pect but, says Burns, "It's not as disruptive of an event as the
first installation. You're not doing what you did initially, which
included excavating and bringing in stone and pipe. The benefit
is it's a lot less time the facility is out of use. You are talking about
three to four weeks instead of eight to ten weeks."
And this brings up another question: once the surface of the
old field is trucked away, what is the next step for it?
"Most customers aren't thinking about recycling very much,"
says Darren Gill, "but they should be."
The next article in this series will discuss synthetic sustain-
ability and turf recycling. ■
Mary Helen Sprecher is a free lance writer who wrote this article
on behalf of the American Sports Builders Association. ASBA is a
non-profit association helping designers, builders, owners, operators
and users understand quality athletic field construction. ASBA offers
the publication, "Sports Fields: A Construction and Maintenance
Manual," which discusses, among other topics, sustainability in the
construction and maintenance of synthetic fields, as well as synthetic
turf recycling. For information, visit www.sportsbuilders.org.
"Consulting with your manufac-
turer is key during the life of the
field," says John Schedler. "Make
sure you're following the mainte-
nance procedures lined out by the
manufacturer and keeping the field
clean and free from as much debris/
contamination as possible.
www.stma.org May 2014 | SportsTurf 27
