Educational Establishments
Jerry Anderson, Director, Agripower
a close knowledge of the ground conditions there. A key credential was its experience of handling big scale projects at places of learning and all that that entails. Eton, Harrow, Birkbeck College and Merchant Taylors, were all on a 30-plus educational establishment CV. Agripower Director Jerry Anderson
summed up the challenge that faced the contractor at HABS. “The four pitches in question were really suffering from poor drainage. The old clay system, with some plastic pipe, was connected to a carrier drain leading off site. It was all very uneven, making for poor playing conditions and issues with effective maintenance,” he said. “The design drawn up for the project
meant a full topsoil strip, regrading of the formation, working generally to existing gradients and topsoil replacement with sand amelioration to aid general drainage. The proposed drainage scheme was based on a lateral system spaced at 4-metre centres with sand banding as a secondary means of water exit. The secondary drainage was later uplifted to the installation of topdrain slits.” “Part of the field had to be used for
Cat D6K with machine control in action
summer term cricket, so the work had to be phased. Topsoil stripping commenced in the April to pitches 1 and 2, with seeding completing the phase in June 2015. Phase two, on pitches 3 and 4, commenced in June and was completed in August. In all, we used over 2000 tonnes of fresh topsoil.” “The remodelling of the levels was
undertaken using a CAT D6K dozer, fitted with a 3D modelling system which allows the operator to work to an electronic plan shown on an in-cab screen,” said Jerry. “Mostly working in manual mode, the
system is switched to auto when within 100- 150mm of finished levels, at which time the hydraulics controlling the blade movement are carried out by the system. Positioning is controlled with an EDM total station, which is referenced to control points established by Agripower’s engineer/surveyor.” The contractor did encounter one or two
‘obstacles’ during the reconstruction of the four pitches. “The main electricity supply to the school traversed diagonally across the site under three of the four pitches and the main gas supply crosses underneath pitch 1,” said Jerry Anderson.
“Both were mapped by CAT scanner and
then proof-dug to confirm depth and position. Once exposed, they were also recorded using OS coordinates to provide a permanent record of location.” An irrigation system with manual take-off
points was also part of the project. All of the pipework for this, as well as provision of a serving borehole, was in place before the drainage work began. This aspect of the project was in the hands of Leicestershire- based designer and engineer, Paul S Graham. Storage for pitch irrigation is provided by a 96 cubic metre circular tank, and water is pump-fed to the take-off points with a pressure sufficient to run Speedy Rain 505 travelling sprinklers. These have 140 metres of 50mm pipe, capable of distributing up to a 40 metre wetted width down the length of the pitch in approximately four hours. An unexpected bonus to the school was
that the water from the new pitch irrigation borehole was of such good quality it could be used for back-washing of a new school swimming pool, part of a multi-million pound sports centre scheme completed last summer. A 700-metre piped extension made
Installation of drainage 54 I PC JUNE/JULY 2016
Koro Top Drain in action
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