been an afterthought, with the emphasis placed on futuristic buildings and interior design, Cowlin Construction and MJ Abbott’s competitive bid focused on delivering the best specification for the school’s needs, whilst demonstrating the cost-saving benefits of working together. In December 2007, Cowlin awarded the £1.3million package contract to MJ Abbott to build all the school’s external sports facilities, including grass pitches for hockey, cricket, rugby and football, along with an artificial all-weather pitch on the twenty hectare site. It includes earthworks, laser grading of the site and full primary and secondary drainage prior to the pitch construction and the installation of floodlights and fencing. Upon completion, they will also be responsible for the grow-in and initial maintenance of all the pitches for two years.
Hand-over of the new pitches to the school will take place in 2010 when it’s scheduled to open its doors to 1,350 local students. The project is being managed by the company’s Contracts Manager, Nathan George, who makes regular site visits and attends monthly progress meetings with Cowlin’s Project Manager, Dave Jacobs. A full-time site manager was also appointed for the duration of the contract, liaising with Cowlin’s site management and managing all health and safety issues. It involves the construction of:
• Seven grass senior football pitches • One grass cricket square • Two artificial cricket practice strips • A four-bay practice net area
• Netball court, high jump pit and discus circle
• Multi-use games area • Full size artificial pitch • Floodlights and fencing
Work began in June last year. One of the very first jobs was to make safe a large, mature oak tree that the school takes its name after. It will be protected throughout the duration of the contract and will be the focal point of the school.
Once storage areas and parking facilities for machinery had been established, work began on the earthworks with up to twelve staff involved. The site is set into three main sectors. Areas 1 and 2 comprise the natural turf pitches, including the cricket square, while Area 3 comprises the multi-use games area and artificial pitch. Vegetation was killed off using glyphosate and stripped before the topsoil was removed and stored. All areas were then laser- levelled with some cut and fill operations to accommodate pitch plateaus. Over 3,400 cubic metres of grass and vegetation, 2,600 cubic metres of topsoil and 13,000 cubic metres of subsoil was removed and reused on site. Primary drainage was installed using a continuous chain/wheel trencher or mechanical excavator as appropriate. The drainage system consisted of 160mm main drains and 80mm lateral drains laid to a depth of 600mm. 10mm gravel was placed over the pipe and backfilled up to 100mm from the surface then coarse sand was used to backfill the top 100mm. By November, the primary drainage to
Area 1, along with preparing the final stone levelling of the artificial pitches, had been completed, but the exceptionally wet weather in November, followed by the cold snap over Christmas and heavy snow fall in February, meant that no further work could be carried out on the natural pitches until the spring when the soil began to dry out,
What are you like?
Jim Lake - enjoys a bacon sarnie and is looking forward to winning the lottery ...
Who are you? Jim Lake, Head Greenkeeper, Druids Heath Golf Club, Aldridge, West Midlands.
Status? Married to Jacqueline with two children, Francesca and Chantal.
Who’s your hero and why? My dad and mum for bringing me up.
What is your dream holiday? A world tour to see the wonders of the world.
What annoys you the most? The lack of golfers’ etiquette.
What would you change about yourself? I would have educated myself more at school.
Who wouldn’t you like to be? A politician.
Favourite record, and why? Layla by Derek and the Dominoes, pure class.
Who would you choose to spend a romantic evening with? The wife.
If you won the lottery, what is the first thing you would do? Resign from work.
If you were to describe yourself as a musical instrument, what would you be? Guitar.
What's the best advice you have ever been given? Always read the label.
What’s your favourite smell? Bacon sandwiches or a good curry.
What three words would you use to describe yourself? Good, bad and ugly.
What talent would you like to have? To play a guitar properly.
What makes you angry? Cars towing caravans.
What law/legislation would you like to see introduced? Bring back hanging.
allowing access back on to them. During those colder winter months, site staff turned their attention to the multi-use area and artificial pitch, working continuously throughout December and January, laying the tarmacadam surfaces and synthetic shock pad in preparation for the playing surface. They then installed the Desso DD Trophy carpet, a densely tufted, non-abrasive surface which works equally well in both wet and dry conditions. MJ Abbott have now completed the primary and secondary drainage works, finalised levels and the natural surfaces have been seeded and are in the grow-in period. Once grass establishment has been reached, the ongoing maintenance programme will kick in. Cowlin’s Dave Jacobs summed up his observations of working on the project and explained why their choice of contractor is vital to its success: “The sports facilities and pitch construction have progressed extremely well on site, despite the very difficult weather conditions encountered. The all-weather pitch is complete with seeding undertaken for the natural grass sports pitches, which is a credit to MJ Abbott. We chose to work with them because of the knowledge and expertise they bring to the table gained from years of experience in sports turf construction at the highest level.”
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