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/34725
Facility&Operations | Eric Schroder Synthetic turf update from STMA Conference AT THE SYNTHETIC TURF UPDATE SES- SION STMA hosted last January, a panel answered questions from the audience. The panel included Webb Cook, president of Sprinturf, Darian Daily of the Cincinnati Bengals, Shawn Mahonski of Towson University, and Tom Serensits of Penn State’s Center for Sports Surface Research. The panel began by assuring the audience that some day every syn- thetic turf field will need to be re- placed. In response to a question on al- ternatives to SBR rubber infill, the panel cited research saying the crumb rubber is safe and noted that some areas don’t allow crumb rub- ber as infill, in New York City and Los Angeles, for example. Alterna- tive infills cost significantly more than crumb rubber, it was noted. Daily of the Bengals said the NFL currently has no policy re- garding whether its playing surfaces should be natural turf or synthetic. He advised that if rain is forecast the day of an event on your syn- thetic field you should cover the field if possible, though Daily noted that he has the luxury of the time and money to do this. He said he is more aggressive now with grooming the field in Cincinnati, hitting it three times a week during the NFL season. He added that the Bengals also practice on the game field, unlike many NFL teams, and that makes a dif- ference. “I can see the difference if we can’t drag it,” he said. In response to another question, Daily said wavy lines can some- times be an issue and recommends using a broom to straighten the lines. He said firm but not hard is the goal and that too much groom- ing makes the field too soft and not enough grooming makes it too hard. After 7 years, Daily’s field is showing signs of age and its Gmax rating has risen. Daily also said his field was manufactured before the new monofilament products now in vogue, and that he has heard com- plaints about “moving infill” in some of these fields at the NFL level. “All fibers are going to lay over regardless of what kind it is,” Daily said. Another point the panel made sure was heard is that maintenance is necessary for synthetic fields. “No maintenance” claims are wrong and everyone knows it. On the topic of cooling down the synthetic infill fields, Daily said the water cannons at his field are great but they don’t work to cool the field. He uses them as part of his maintenance practices, hitting 15-20 minutes per station, saying it cleans the fibers and the infill and keeps debris off the field. He tries to get everything as clean as he can, he said. Putting moisture into the sand and rubber gives players a feel they like, Daily said, they can feel their cleats going in and out and it’s not sticky. “Later in the season I might cut down because there’s already moisture, like if it snows.” Daily said his field has experienced less static as it has aged. The panel agreed that 8-year warranties are now the industry standard. When a field is between 8 and 11 years old, if it has been subject to sunlight 365 days a year, the UV rays will start to break down the fibers, Daily said. He said to get maximum years out of your synthetic turf you should groom it less, and that a field’s location also makes a difference. A Texas field ab- sorbs a more intense UV ray than one in New Hampshire, for example, so theoretically the NH field would last longer. Serensits cited research at PSU, where they have tested shoes on their synthetic turf plots, that showed flat-soled shoes will wear a field faster than cleats. One attendee wondered if someday there would be an envi- ronmentally related tax to pay to process the old infill material. A panel member responded that equipment exists that can re- move 65-70% of the old infill; it is cut up and put in a landfill and that he knew of no current issues with that practice. Another attendee, from Cincinnati, said a nearby cement plant was causing abrasions to his field’s fibers and was told he had to just keep flushing that unwanted material through the The panel agreed that 8-year warranties are now the industry standard. 26 SportsTurf | July 2011 www.sportsturfonline.com By