Winter Sports
Image 7: Testing of surface traction
last roof truss was in place and the bulk of the pitch subgrade was available to the pitch contractor. Unencumbered by having to allow access to the roof, the rootzone layers could be spread with ease to the very tight tolerances specified. Almost overnight, a full size pitch began to take shape (Image 6).
Turf establishment and testing
The bulk of the pitch was sown with a blend of three perennial ryegrass cultivars on 24 January 2011, with the final 3m wide eastern section being sown nearly two months later. The turf cultivars used were selected from eight industry standards evaluated in the wear and recovery trials carried out in the ETFE test rig.
Turf establishment was rapid and a full and dense ground cover was achieved by 30 March 2011, the date of the first of two surface performance tests (Image 7). At that time, the pitch had not received any physical treatment and was
understandably hard and very dense at depth. In order for the planned GrassMaster turf reinforcement installation to proceed, the pitch was verti-drained to 180mm depth, a few centimetres above the sub-surface irrigation pipe.
GrassMaster installation
Installation of GrassMaster turf reinforcement fibres commenced on 21
Image 8: GrassMaster installation on 3 May 2011
April 2011, and had to be completed by 9 May 2011 when all machinery was required to be off the pitch to allow the sports lights to be set up and tested. Two GrassMaster machines had been shipped to New Zealand from South Africa where they had been involved in reinforcing pitches used for the 2010 Football World Cup. The machines worked for sixteen hours a day, in two shifts of eight hours, in order to meet the deadline. Results were dramatic, with the artificial fibres instantly providing confidence that the surface would take the punishing scrums that were about to take place on the surface (Image 8).
Ongoing maintenance
With the pitch completed and turf established, the task of implementing an on-going maintenance programme began. Using results gained from the ETFE test rig, a detailed maintenance specification was prepared by SSDM, in conjunction with Coryn Huddy, who had conducted an overseas stadium study tour in January 2009 in order to gather valuable maintenance experience.
The maintenance programme has focused on taking into account the low light levels in winter, and significantly reduced air movement and higher humidity levels in the stadium bowl that are likely to contribute to potential disease outbreaks. Actions, such as a preventative rather than a reactive programme to disease management, have been specified, at least initially until more experience with the management of the turfgrass surface is gained.
Other aspects of ongoing maintenance include routine turfgrass clippings removal, prevention of moisture build-up at the surface by regularly removing dew, carefully timed watering programmes to prevent excessive periods of leaf wetness and specialist fertilisation management using both foliar and granular applications. Ongoing maintenance shall
be reviewed as growing conditions become better understood.
A key component of the pitch construction specification was the design and supply of a customised environmental monitoring system that could measure various characteristics, such as temperature, humidity and photosynthetically active radiation. A portable wireless weather station, located in the centre of the pitch (aptly dubbed the lunar landing module), buried soil moisture sensors and external light capturing sensors are the basis of the system. This monitoring system will help establish how close the light modelling predictions have been, as well as help build an understanding of the actual environmental conditions that directly affect the growth and performance of the turfgrass surface (Image 9).
Handover
Handover occurred on time and on budget on 1 August 2011 following a very successful grow-in by Coryn Huddy. Two weeks earlier the pitch had received its second performance testing but, more importantly, a full-on training session by the All Blacks (Image 10), who gave nothing but praise for the new pitch. Pitch usage commenced in early August, first with a local university college rugby game, followed quickly by a second tier provincial club rugby game. However, it is somewhat ironic that the first major rugby game scheduled for 17 August (ITM Cup) had to be postponed until 30 August because of heavy snowfall conditions - but it wasn’t the stadium that was out of action because of the snow - it was the airport, and teams couldn’t get to the venue! It was, therefore, not until 20 August that the stadium’s ability to cope with a large crowd was first tested, this being the 15,000 people who attended Dunedin’s biggest professional football match since the U17 World Cup in 1999 (Image 11). And the rest, as they say, is history. The
Image 9: The ‘lunar landing’ module for monitoring environmental conditions within the stadium bowl
60 PC DECEMBER/JANUARY 2012
“The stadium was built around the turf rather than the other way round - no more time, no more money, find another solution”
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