Educational Establishments
Autumn turf laying “
disruption to school life whatsoever. Phase One of the project, the enabling
Instead of being an enclosed set of buildings, fine and modern as they are, we now have our own outdoor facility
works, involved the total clearance of all vegetation and trees, and this had to be completed ahead of bird nesting. A huge task was the removal of rampant Giant Hogweed by glyphosate spraying on a grand scale and stockpiling off site, a tedious, yet necessary operation. There was also some re-growth of dreaded Japanese Knotweed and, before any earthworks could be contemplated, this had to be isolated and eradicated. For this, an area of 120 square metres was dug out to a depth of 500mm and the soil transported and formed into a fenced-off mound on the boundary of the site for treatment by a specialist controller. Once the site had been totally cleared,
earthworks began in earnest, first with the importing of 1730 cubic metres of inert sub- soil for basic leveling, then 1183 cubic metres of British Sugar’s certified topsoil Landscape 20, which was spread and laser- graded to form a 200mm top layer. A CAT D5 laser-controlled blade machine and CAT 963 loading shovel had starring roles in Phase Two.
Phase Three was principally drainage maintenance programme, centre pitch 96 I PC DECEMBER/JANUARY 2015
Charlie and contractor groundsman Adam Rowlands discuss the
installation. Turfdry is the sole UK approved installer of Hydraway Sportsdrain, an American drainage system for sportsfields, based on 25mm x 150mm geotextile columns rather than piping. Narrow trenches, just 50mm wide, down to 300mm were excavated to enable installation of these at 4-metre centres across the site, followed by back-filling with aggregate and piping. SAME tractors with low-pressure tyres and AFT 75 laser-controlled disc
trencher with high-lift soil conveyor were the main items of equipment used. A tank for Rain Train irrigation was also
installed and 100 percent ryegrass turf laid in autumn 2013. Turfdry had done its work and, in the following summer term, the school staged its first ‘at home’ athletics and volleyball. “Turfdry were excellent from day one,” said Charlie. “It’s been a successful, albeit long journey, and I’ve really enjoyed being part of it. It’s made a massive difference to everyone here, pupils especially. Instead of being an enclosed set of buildings, fine and modern as they are, we now have our own outdoor facility.” Regular maintenance of the new sports field is in the capable hands of contractor groundsman, Adam Rowlands. He is a former FA groundsman winner and looks after non- league pitches at Wealdstone and Harrow Borough, as well as a number of other schools in the area. The school’s governing body must take a lot of credit for backing the project and finding the money for it, yet budgets generally remain very tight and there is an on-going reliance on outside support. Lack of equipment, for winter games especially, is the next hurdle to overcome. Permanent football posts would be
impractical on such a small sports area needed for a diversity of other purposes, and the school had been looking forward to having a set of mobile football goals for its first season on its own pitch. It was an unfulfilled promise by a manufacturer however.
“If another source can help here it would
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