combined weight of the turf and sand infill is close to 200 tonnes with a full size sand filled pitch,” he adds. “It makes it almost impossible to lift and transport to another site.”
Carpet can and does enjoy alternative, secondary, use in both sport and leisure sites, though. Golf driving ranges and practice tees are particularly suitable
replacement of 80s synthetics
With the RFU and the FA talking, it makes sense for these two sports to combine, rather than football and hockey. Hockey best combines with tennis at school level, and non- competitive football, Lee argues. The remaining solution is a football product which hockey can be played on – a surface such as the company’s Challenger, the only one meeting FIFA 1* and FIH requirements, he claims. Because it is one of the few UK suppliers who also manufacture here, TigerTurf has the capability to research and develop new products to meet demand and shape provision. Bryn Lee agrees with other major suppliers when he says that little R & D is carried out on artificial surfaces in the UK, TigerTurf being the only one here, he claims.
The emphasis has rested more on what lies
underneath. Has R & D been dominated by the need for flexibility then? Most of the remaining developments have been in shockpads - Brock being the most innovative for many years - and different construction techniques. ”Our R&D staff are looking closely at the many new yarns appearing, specifically for soccer usage. This will lead to new specialist products being rolled out.”
Cricket prospers
If there are fears over the future of hockey, worries over
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the state of cricket, particularly in schools, are being addressed as the Chance to Shine national initiative takes hold, firmly focused on the provision of artificial pitches as the backbone of the modern game at this level.
One of several suppliers of pitches under the scheme, ClubTurf Cricket Ltd, although still under a year old, have a wealth of experience to rely on, after father and son Keith and Kevin Underwood bought the rights to the brand that had been developed and operated for over 20 years by Keith McGuinness as part of the Club Surfaces Ltd group, which specialised in artificial sports surfaces. ClubTurf supply solutions for a range of cricketing requirements – from match pitches to practice areas and roll-out indoor pitches – mainly for local cricket clubs. ”Cricket is very much a developing market,” says Chris Parr, in part spurred on by the “Ashes euphoria”, he believes. The breadth of application for synthetic cricket pitches is immense and the flexibility of product available means a strip can be installed or rolled virtually anywhere. Earlier this year, ClubTurf laid a surface in a
constrained space alongside railway arches on the Isle of Dogs to cater for demand from the local Bangladeshi community.
“Nets can be laid on to a
hockey pitch or a surface can be put down between football
Legacy issues
Relocation of major sports facilities such as athletics tracks and pitches is increasingly exercising the minds of planners and providers at national level but the ‘legacy’ issue is still to be embraced wholeheartedly by suppliers and contractors, it seems.
Nevertheless, the issue of what becomes of prime facilities after a major event remains. The old solution of leaving them to die in splendid isolation, used only rarely, is no longer an option. In this context, the Manchester 2002
Commonwealth Games once again showed its credentials as a successfully managed world event, being one of the few examples of planned relocation and reuse of facilities. “The Mondo track that we laid within the stadium was always intended to be taken up and relaid elsewhere,” says Simon Hall, “but this surface is arguably the only one where this can be done successfully. It’s simply not feasible with wet pour athletics surfaces. Because of its modular construction, Mondo finds ready reapplication in sprint straights for example.” But for artificial grass,
relocation is simply unviable economically and practically, suppliers believe. “The
The next big thing is the
and rugby pitches. We are now studying ways of integrating cricket pitches into multi-use sports areas.”
applications, says Simon Hall. “Staff prefer the flatter surface so that they can retrieve balls more easily.” The next big thing, most suppliers predict, is the replacement of synthetic pitches installed in 1980s. “A sizeable percentage of the synthetic market in the UK in years to come,” according to Simon Hall.
Having given anything up to 20-25 years’ service, and laid in an era of differing demand, these played out areas bring with them the attendant problem of disposal, or, increasingly likely, given the shortage of landfill sites, reuse. Even if maintenance
procedures are carried out to suppliers’ recommendations and surfaces are repaired when necessary, surfaces will only survive rigorous use for so long.
So what do you do with 7,000-8,000m2
of turf when it
needs replacing? “The old turf is lifted and reused elsewhere when possible, says Bryn Lee, managing director of TigerTurf (UK) Ltd, “on golf walkways for example. If not, then some fields are stockpiled for future recycling when technology allows, or quite simply they go to landfill sites. The replacement surface they lay, whether for specialist or multi use, contains no harmful elements and are easier to reuse in the future, he adds. “We are not far away from a totally recyclable product.” Although suppliers report
few, if any, provisions within tendering documents to dispose of old pitches in an environmentally acceptable way, the industry will have to confront the matter sooner or later, admits Simon Hall. “Clearly there are cost and ethical issues to consider. Our sector is not a particularly high profile one and the Government is looking at the big hitters – car and lorry pollution, for example.” Rubber shockpads can be made from recycled tyres,
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