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.
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Facility&Operations | ByRoss Clurman >> Above: BAYLOR UNIVERSITY'S synthetic turf football field >> Below: AN OPTIONAL ELASTIC LAYER (e-layer) provides additional shock absorp- tion, reduces the cost to replace a field, and drastically improves your turf's lifespan. >> A CONVERTIBLE or "roll-up" turf system allows facilities to install a multi-purpose field From dirt to turf: 7 steps for successful Editor's note: This article was written by Ross Clurman of Hellas Sports Con- struction, Inc., Austin, TX. B and sometimes school board or community votes. Whether you are replacing an exist- ing grass field, or building a new one alto- gether, understanding the process of planning and constructing a synthetic turf field will ensure its success. There are three main phases of building a synthetic field: pre-construction, con- struction, and post-construction. Within each phase, there are milestones that, as a decision maker, you need to be aware of and prepared to tackle. UILDING AN ARTIFICIAL TURF FIELD is no small task and often involves months of budgeting, planning, meetings, 20 SportsTurf | July 2012 PHASE 1: PRE-CONSTRUCTION Before you break ground on the con- construction of a synthetic field struction of your field, you should have a handle on the following: • Reason(s) • Location • Conditions • Budget • Turf Selection • Deadline(s) • Requirements Reason(s)—Why are you installing a synthetic turf field? Knowing why will help you determine other factors, such as loca- tion, budget, timeline and requirements. In addition, you will need to convey these rea- sons when the support of a third party (e.g. community, school board, owners) is re- quired. Define your reasons. Location—Where will the new syn- thetic field be located? If you're replacing an existing grass or synthetic field with new turf, you probably already know the loca- tion, but if it is a new field construction, you may not have a site selected. Do that. Upon determining the site, regardless of a new field or replacement field, you will need to obtain a soil survey. Determine the location. Conditions—What are the current con- ditions of the location? Any construction project starts with a solid base. In the case of an artificial turf field, your base is the soil. A geotechnical soils report is not very expensive, and knowing the soil composi- tion is very important when constructing a field, as this may vary the cost by upwards of $100,000. I recommend you use a third- party geotechnical company. Survey the conditions. Budget—How much do you have to spend? Where is the money coming from? When approaching your project, it is www.sportsturfonline.com