Artificial Surfaces
The warm, dry weather conditions of summer make this an ideal time of year to perform certain maintenance tasks on artificial sports pitches. As the seasons seem to shift year to year, this window of opportunity becomes smaller and smaller, and unfortunately the appeal of round-the-clock usage that comes with an artificial pitch often restricts the time that is dedicated to such works, with potential consequences for a pitch’s playing quality during the later autumn and winter months.
Here, Nick Harris of Technical Surfaces Ltd outlines some of the works that can - and should - be completed during warm, dry weather, and why the temptation to sacrifice maintenance time for bookings during the busy summer months could impact on your artificial pitch’s performance characteristics when the winter weather sets in
ARTIFICIAL PITCH MAINTENANCE
Winter, spring, summer or fall?
F
98 PC JUNE/JULY 2012 Nick Harris
irst of all, it is important to stress that the vast majority of artificial pitch maintenance work can be completed throughout the year. Regular sweeping, for example, is a
year-round requirement and should be carried out at regular, repeated intervals to ensure consistency in a pitch’s safety and performance levels. There are, however, certain procedures which require dry weather conditions and, as such, should be scheduled in advance into a pitch’s annual maintenance programme. A refreshing of painted line markings and a deep-clean of the top layer of granular infill are two examples of such processes that should only be completed on artificial sports pitches in periods of sustained dry weather, and are usually fulfilled between April and September each year. Both are important elements of an effective maintenance programme
and can make all the difference to the amount of revenue that can be generated from an artificial sports facility. Many artificial pitches are installed as multi-use facilities and are, therefore, utilised by schools and local communities to their fullest potential.
A pitch can be separated into halves,
thirds or quarters, with dividing netting and the application of additional markings, e.g. for five-a-side football or hockey 7s. New markings may also be required with changes in the rules of a sport, to ensure the pitch can host matches at a certain level. A recent example of this is the introduction, in hockey, of a broken 5m line, outside the circle, to assist with the taking of a ‘free hit’.
There are a number of options when it comes to selecting painted lines for your surface - the use of aerosols can provide pitch markings on a temporary basis
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