Bishop Kelly High School Turf Replacement

Boise, Idaho

Bishop Kelly partnered with ESI to achieve their goal of a new multiuse athletic field on an expedited schedule within a strict budget.

Project stats

96K 10 5x

square feet

weeks in design and construction

Leveling the playing field

Student-athlete programs are evolving and school administrators have to adapt while navigating rigid budgets and tight schedules to stay competitive. Bishop Kelly High School faced this challenge in 2023 as the old athletic field could no longer support the needs of its active student body. For years, the football team used the athletic field exclusively. Recently though, over 500 studentathletes have competed in a variety of sports throughout much of the school year. Bishop Kelly administrators quickly realized they needed an upgrade and soon, as the 2023-2024 school year was right around the corner.

Efficient and effective

They decided to partner with ESI to provide design-build services and preconstruction began in earnest. After just two weeks of planning and design with leading landscape architect The Land Group, ESI quickly secured the permits and the construction team broke ground. The old field was crowned to encourage drainage but the new field needed to be flat to accommodate field sports other than football. In addition to digging up the existing sod and irrigation system, the field was over excavated to a depth of nine feet to accommodate linear drainage beds underneath the entire length of the new field. After the earthwork crew’s work was complete and the drainage beds installed, layers of fill materials and filter fabric were placed on top to preserve the base and further encourage proper drainage.

the new field is flat to accommodate additional field sports. an invisible crown below the turf maintains necessary drainage for optimal conditions.

First in safety

Next, the construction team installed a 16mm thick shock pad over the top of the fill, followed by the synthetic turf. The pad is a crucial safety feature— regardless of sport—in achieving and maintaining a necessary G-max score, which positively affects the overall safety impact rating for years to come.

Cost-saving features

• Multi-sport use

• Extended field life-span

• Water conservation

• Minimal upkeep

2”

First choice service

ESI project leaders arranged for the field to be tested by a nationally recognized certifying authority just in time for the first home game of the season.

With curbing emplaced between the field and the track, goal posts erected, and a pole vault track built past the south endzone, Bishop Kelly’s new athletic field would be ready for track and field season too. The construction phase of this project was completed 66 days after the groundbreaking. Amazingly, the entire duration of the project lasted a total of 80 days. Bishop Kelly’s dedication to the project and efficient decision making—coupled with ESI’s expert self-perform teams and strong partnerships with local trade professionals—contributed greatly to both the quality of the finished product and the dramatically reduced timeline.

Bishop Kelly is the first school in the treasure valley to use a shock pad—a crucial factor to the overall safecty impact rating of the field.

NON-WOVEN NEEDLE-PUNCHED FILTER FABRIC

CENTER FIELD SYNTHETIC TURF PAD

SYNTHETIC TURF AND SPLIT INFILL

2” DEPTH LEVELING COURSE

ASTM C33 FILTER SAND AT 18” DEPTH

WASHED DRAIN ROCK

NEW CURB WITH SYNTHETIC TURF ATTACHMENT SEPARATION GEOTEXTILE FABRIC

References

Bill Avey

President, Bishop Kelly High School

208-401-5322

bavey@bk.org

Tim Lamott

Head

of

Building Committee, Bishop Kelly High School

208-781-8599

tim.m.lamott@gmail.com