Technical
Cost effective, efficient, lean production, economical - all words used by management consultants in their study of processes.
With these words in mind, let us consider the removal of excess soil water from turf used for sport. Unless the site is a free-draining one, some form of pipework will be necessary to carry the water away. But, what size? At what depth? What trench width and trench spacing? Some would say ‘the
bigger the better’, others would say ‘not so’. Is there a right way?
David Shelton of Shelton Sportsturf Drainage Solutions LLP offers his take on the optimum pipe size
Sports Turf Drainage - technical talk...
The latest sportsturf trenching machines can excavate narrow trenches accurately and cleanly
o answer this question, let us think of an established football or rugby pitch on an area 100m x 50m. We need to think back over thirty years to how, in the 1970s, these pitches would have been drained. Big, powerful, self-propelled agricultural drainage machines on tracks would have dug wide trenches and placed the excavated soil at the side of the trench to be cleared up later in the operation. Upheaval was substantial, and it was usual to allow twelve months before re-use. Also popular at that time were small
T
self-propelled chain trenchers, which cut trenches over 100mm wide, similarly depositing the arisings on the trench side.
124 PC APRIL/MAY 2012
They made less damage to the playing surface but, nevertheless, reinstatement was measured in months. Whichever method was used, it resulted in wide trenches and soil contaminated turf.
The big advances in sportsturf drainage started in the early 1980s with the advent of the 3-point linkage, tractor mounted, wheel trencher.
The high speed cutting disc cut clean
trenches 50mm wide, which acted like mini-ditches. These machines, initially, were used in agriculture, but those involved in draining sportsfields soon saw the advantages for draining fine turf. The next development was an enclosed
trencher with a conveyor to load the excavated soil into a trailer running alongside; this machine was further developed to cut trenches from 25- 140mm wide. At a stroke, it became possible, easily and speedily, to vary the trench width to suit differing circumstances. Much thought was given as to what should be the optimum width and optimum pipe size. In Great Britain, a technical panel was set-up by the Land Drainage Contractors Association (LDCA) to study the implications of the latest developments in machinery.
It has been shown, time and time again, that the most cost-effective system is one
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