Football

Football & Rugby pitches turn-key construction

Natural grass at a football or rugby pitch should be ecological, soft, and safe. It protects skin and joints of players from sprains and injuries while falling. And, of course, it looks more attractive than any artificial surface. Natural grass at a sports field guarantees correct speed, shock absorption, ball bouncing, clutch strength, stability - all this allows players to constantly improve the game. But it is important to realize that football and rugby pitches with natural grass require constant maintenance, timely provided, in order to keep a field in a proper shape. Establishment of a football or rugby pitch cannot be combined with errors or hack-work.

General requirements, which should be kept in mind during construction of a football/rugby pitch: 

  • Microclimate of the stadium (shadow, wind, air movement);
  • Macroclimate of the stadium (climate and weather in the region);
  • It is necessary to have an idea of the latest technologies and systems used in the construction of sports pitches;
  • Previous experience and requirements of users (business plan of the facility and protective system of the playing surface during alternative use);
  • Service capabilities (pitch maintenance and year-round expertise);
  • Additionally, there is a competent approach to choosing a contractor and holding a tender, design features (laying down the main systems) and leveling the foundation.

Seeding or rolling – these are the main types of a natural grass.

Football/Rugby pitch structure

Pitch profile or pitch pie are the layers of a football or a rugby turf base along with the following engineering systems: 

  • Drainage
  • Subsoil heating
  • Pitch cooling
  • Irrigation
  • Subsurface moisture treatment (or sub-irrigation)

Drainage

A drainage system can be of the two types: 

  • Classical system - used to collect and output water outside a playground on the basis of the gravitational principle;
  • The system of subterranean aeration - performs two functions at once: removes excess water from a surface of a football/rugby pitch beyond a stadium, and spreads air into the root zone of the turfgrass. Such a system improves biological processes of the soil, urgent removal of surplus water, and is used for defrosting / heating.

Subsoil heating system

A heating system consists of a boiler, a thermal conductor, and pipes (primary and secondary), it can be of two types: electric or liquid. The latter is often used, which is also divided into independent or heat-exchangeable.

Control: A heating system is controlled by a computer program that allows you to monitor the temperature of the pitch in different places and at different depths with the help of special sensors.

A user only needs to enter data about the temperature, humidity, and airiness of a football or rugby pitch, and the interface itself, due to the connection of input data from a variety of sensors and sensors of all connected systems in it, it is possible to set up desired adjustments and perform required procedures.

Cooling system

The system was developed as an alternative to using a heating system on the ethylene glycol principle. A heat exchanger of a subterranean heating system, operating on the principle of ethylene glycol, not only can heat ethylene glycol but cool it as well. In this case, in summer, the medium in pipes of a subterranean heating system, on the contrary, would cool a pitch profile.

This is one of the most modern systems that helps cool a profile of football and rugby pitches.

Irrigation system

An irrigation system, as well as drainage, is one of the minimum systems required at a professional sports pitch. Both a city water supply system and a well of a sports facility can be a source of water. Urban water has a lot of flaws: a high content of chlorine and iron can harm the grass, despite the fact that its price is much higher compared to water from your own sources. Usually, water is kept in a reservoir for cleaning from impurities. Recently, there’s more discussing about the ecological approach in the operation of sports facilities. In this regard, alternative sources may be used: For example, most stadiums use rainwater to irrigate a pitch. On average, it takes 10 mm per 1 square meter per day, in the end - about 80 cubic meters.

The main working part of the system is sprinklers with a range of 25-30m. As a rule, a system of 24 sprinklers is used, which ensures high-quality coverage of the entire surface.

Control:  An irrigation system, as well as a heating one, has a centralized control with a possibility of developing irrigation programs. Electromagnetic valves are located around the perimeter of a pitch and are hidden in mines near its edge. The mine is a box in which the electro- and other valves, as well as additional components of the irrigation system, are hidden.

Subsurface moisture treatment (or sub-irrigation system)

This is an analog of drip irrigation, the purpose of which is to moisten the inner root zone with the active use of a subterranean aeration system. Due to the turf drying by means of aeration (even in winter), a sub-irrigation system for the root zone is required. Such an alternative is perfect for the climatic conditions of Georgia.

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