Artificial Surfaces
Keeping your track on track!
Did you know that there are more than 350 synthetic athletics tracks across the country which will face the harsh winter months alone and, in many cases, unloved?
To ensure your track doesn’t fall by the wayside this winter, maintenance experts, Technical Surfaces, and athletics track specialists, Polytan, talk us through the finer points of track construction, as well as the steps you can take to keep your athletics track ready for next season
majority of tracks are left at the mercy of the elements, with little or no thought towards even the most basic maintenance plan. To understand the type of maintenance your track may need, it is probably best to explain the types of surface currently in use.
A
Colour combinations aside, there are only two basic synthetic track systems; Porous and Non-Porous.
Porous
A porous system usually consists of two layers of synthetic material (the exception being the prefabricated ‘roll out’ system). The first layer is a 10-12mm black rubber crumb porous base, whilst the top ‘wearing
full sized athletics facility is a massive capital commitment for any school, establishment, commercial organisation or association to make. Sadly however, once installed, the
If the black base layer is showing through, it is prudent to seek advice from a registered repairer
layer’ is generally sprayed onto this, to a depth of 2-3mm, and can be various colours, but typically red.
The two layers bond together when laid in ideal conditions and so become one continuous surface. With this type of surface there is generally no need to have a drainage system, as water is dispersed through the entire track surface.
Non-Porous
There are three types of non-porous systems currently available: Type one is sometimes termed a sandwich system. This, typically, has a base similar to that of the porous track, to which an intermediary ‘sealing’ layer is applied prior to the installation of the ‘top wearing’ layer. The sealing layer then enables the top layer to be installed without losing excessive material into the open base layer and maintaining an even level finish. The wearing layer has all the necessary texture
■ Regular Sweeping ■ 3G Decompactions ■ Infill Top-Ups ■ Vegetation Treatments ■ Machinery & Equipment ■ Demonstrations & Training ■ Specialist Deep-Cleaning ■ Infill Extraction & Replacement ■ Line Marking ■ Repairs
94 PC DECEMBER/JANUARY 2013
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