Whilst the lamentable performance of the England Cricket Team in the fourth Test at Headingley in August was a huge
disappointment, the match did at least mark the successful culmination of an eighteen month project to redevelop the outfield.
James Westwood, STRI Construction Specialist, guides us through the redevelopment of the Headingley outfield
Background
In early 2008, Yorkshire County Cricket Club was awarded a £600,000 grant from the ECB to redevelop the outfield at the Headingley Carnegie Stadium. A requirement of the funding package from the ECB was that the completed outfield was to meet certain drainage performance criteria, the main requirement being a minimum infiltration rate of 30mm per hour. In addition, the funding included the provision of an effective irrigation system and an even playing surface providing safe, secure footing for all players as well as accommodating the needs of the TV and broadcasting companies, in particular the ducting for stump cameras and microphones.
The grant served the dual purpose of enabling the standard of drainage on the outfield to be improved as well as facilitating its partial regrading as part of a major ground redevelopment. At the same time the ECB grant was approved, the club was also involved in the final planning stages for the new Carnegie Pavilion, which was replacing the existing dilapidated Wintershed Stand at the Kirkstall Lane end of the ground. As part of this development, the existing concrete terraced seating area in front of the new pavilion building location was to be extended down onto the northern edge of the outfield in order to accommodate an additional 500 seats. This not only necessitated losing up to four to five metres of the northern edge of the outfield, but its level here also had to be lowered by as much as 650mm. It was, therefore, paramount that the re- grading of the outfield was completed in advance of any drainage improvement works undertaken. In February 2008, the STRI was engaged by Yorkshire County Cricket Club to undertake the necessary design work for the regrading of the outfield and the associated new drainage scheme. The appointment also involved the preparation of the general contract
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documentation, including the specification and the bills of quantities, as well as undertaking the tendering process and general contract administration on behalf of the club. As a preliminary to commencing any design work, a thorough investigation of the existing ground conditions was carried out on the outfield. A series of trial hole investigations indicated that a feature of the existing turf was the presence of a dense matted thatch layer varying from 24-45mm in thickness. The presence of this thatch made the surface somewhat spongy and moisture retentive, as well as helping to slow down the speed of ball roll along the surface. Beneath the thatch layer, there was a variable cover of clay loam soil, this ranging from 110-225mm in depth. The
topsoil had a significant clay content varying between 25% and 33%, beneath which there was a solid and structureless layer of yellow/brown clay subsoil. Pockets of clinker ash were also found at the interface between the topsoil and subsoil layers, but subsequent laboratory analysis confirmed that this was free from excessive levels of PCBs, heavy metals and phenols, and could therefore be safely tipped off site. A number of underground services
were also found to be present beneath the outfield, some of which would be potentially affected by the proposed works. The most significant of these was a high voltage electricity cable that traversed the northern edge of the outfield, the route of which would be disturbed by the proposed terrace
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