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Pitch reconstructions highlight value of best turf and irrigation technology
Majestic Madejski in all its glory
When the Madejski Stadium, home to Reading Football Club and London Irish Rugby Club, underwent its first major pitch reconstruction for ten years, contractors MJ Abbott and Premier Pitches, worked closely together during the time-critical close season over a six-week period. The venue became the first to have a dual-use pitch with the added durability of the SISGrass hybrid system turf technology. After removing around 15 miles of existing pipework, MJ Abbott reconstructed the pitch, taking the old one out and starting from the bottom up, reshaped all the subbase levels, reinstalled the drainage, undersoil heating and rootzone layers. Premier Pitches took responsibility for pitch cultivation and seeding. The company maintains their involvement by way of annual pitch renovation. During the later stages of construction employing effective irrigation to the
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grass root zone was critical to enable the final pitch levels to be accurately graded and to allow for successful cultivation and seeding of the new surface. Nathan George, Contracts Manager at MJ Abbott was confident that selecting Rain Bird products was the way forward. “We had a high level of confidence in Rain Bird irrigation technology for the project because of the overall quality, performance and versatility of the company’s products,” he said. Rain Bird’s durable 8005 rotors were specified for the central area of the pitch and with their easily adjustable arc from 50° to 330°and 12 to 24.7 metre radius were well suited to the application. Featuring Rain Curtain nozzles, the 8005 rotors ensure optimum distribution and close-in watering resulting in superior irrigation uniformity.
Rain Bird’s 950E rotors were selected for the pitch perimeter as they are specifically designed to withstand the rigours of sports field irrigation applications, including hybrid grass. They offer full or part circle and irrigation up to 345° and feature a top adjustable pressure regulator, factory preset at 5.5 bar. Rain Bird’s Site Control System, used by Adam Grantham Reading Football Club’s Grounds Manager and his team, can be controlled both through a PC and remotely through an iPad. It gives complete control over the irrigation and the flexibility to set up and match the irrigation cycles precisely to the prevailing and predicted weather. “The Rain Bird system is great and very user friendly, and can be as complex as you would like it to be. I have found it very easy to monitor moisture
levels with the sprinkler system coverage being very consistent,” said Adam. Meanwhile when the decision was made to install a new playing surface and irrigation system before the start of the 2017-8 Premier League season at Newcastle United, a fast response and close cooperation between pitch contractors MJ Abbott and Premier Pitches was essential. As part of the project the club had to select a new fully automatic pitch irrigation system. After removing the existing vegetation and old fibre root zone, MJ Abbott removed the existing lower sand layer to a suitable depth to expose the existing slits within the drainage system that was to be retained. An imported rootzone was laid to re-establish the original pitch levels, followed by cultivation and seeding carried out by Premier Pitches. The new pitch was then stitched with the SISGrass hybrid pitch system. For the new irrigation system, MJ Abbott had to take into account the particular conditions created by the configuration of the pitch within the stadium. Nathan George, Contracts Manager, said that the stadium design means that at certain times of the day, the southern end of the pitch is in full shade with the remainder in full sun. Complete control over individual sprinkler application rates was therefore essential Rain Bird 950E valve-inhead sprinklers were selected for the perimeter and the corners of the pitch while 8005 pop up rotors were chosen for the central areas.