Having delivered on its sterling reputation for pitch construction with a project in Littlehampton, Turfdry was once again called upon by Barratt David Wilson Homes to construct new sports pitches for Salesian School Chertsey.

The new pitches were to be constructed on farmland adjacent to the school site, with some significant slopes requiring a careful 'cut & fill' design to ensure the final pitch plateaus comply with Sport England guidance for gradients.

A complicating factor for this particular project was the series of high-pressure gas pipelines running through the site, supplying - amongst other things - jet fuel for Heathrow Airport. There are almost 14,000km of oil and gas pipelines buried across the UK, many of which are not as deep as one might imagine; whilst their nominal depth is 0.9m, this depth is not fixed, and they can be considerably shallower in places. With a pressure of over 1,500 psi (more than 50x that of an average car tyre!), there pipelines will not only explode when damaged, but will continue to leak fuel at tremendous volumes after the initial eruption, causing further environmental damage, danger, and highly costly loss of fuel.

With this danger in mind - as well as the substantial cost of disturbing a high-pressure pipeline, which starts at around £15 million - it was vital that due care and attention be paid in undertaking major cut & fill earthworks.

Although Turfdry has extensive experience working in the vicinity of dangerous services - including high-pressure gas and oil pipelines - it is vital in these circumstances to consult with *Linewatch*. This organisation of high-pressure pipeline operators provides oversight on all excavation works taking place in the vicinity of their services, offering information, advice, guidance, and - where necessary - supervision to contractors. Following this consultation it was agreed that an easement around the footprint of the pipeline was to be enforced throughout the project delivery, with Bog Matts used to provide heavy-duty protection to facilitate the safe crossing of the pipeline by heavy machinery when absolutely necessary.

In order to minimise these potentially hazardous crossings, Turfdry designed a 'balanced' cut & fill scheme for each side of the pipeline boundary, such that no material needed to be moved across the easement line. This allowed for a safe, optimally efficient delivery of the works, with careful consideration of the works reducing the client's cost and time spent on the project.

Once the design phase was complete, and the site secured, works commenced using a selection of Komatsu excavators fitted with GPS machine control. This enables precise 3D location data to be fed to the construction machinery in real-time, relating the existing ground levels to the design model, facilitating precise and efficient delivery of the project.

Topsoil was initially stripped from the site and stockpiled, before being spread over the newly formed subsoil plateaus to create the final pitch levels. As per Turfdry's commitment to design standards, these levels conform to the gradients outlined by Sport England to balance playability with the natural movement of surface water to assist in effective pitch drainage.

Following the construction of the plateaus, Turfdry's specialist drainage team installed a Hydraway Sportsdrain drainage system at {NUMBERm} spacing on both pitches, which connected via 100mm perforate plastic pipe carrier drains to an existing outfall ditch on the site boundary,

With the drainage installation complete, final cultivation and seedbed preparation works were undertaken prior to the seeding of the site.

Although the initial seeding works went well, the subsequent winter of torrential weather presenting notable challenges for the establishment of a healthy grass sward across the site. Whilst the newly installed drainage system performed admirably at its first call, the relentless rain induced surface-water run-off and seed wash-out, necessitating close monitoring and regular remediation by the watchful Turfdry team. Even after more than a quarter-century of operation, MD Melvyn Taylor is not yet above rolling his sleeves up where necessary, pictured here digging an emergency channel to mitigate damage to the sward that could have been caused by flooding in the low corner of the pitch following a particularly vicious storm.

Though this might not have been the most elegant day's work, it speaks to the reality of successful pitch construction, which requires regular monitoring, effective maintenance, and a fair amount of thinking on one's feet - even with the most rigorously planned projects. Indeed, challenges continued to be thrown up throughout the establishment phase of the pitches, with the heavy rain of the winter followed by long periods of extended drought. Combined with the disruptions brought about by the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, this made for a particularly challenging sward establishment for the site.

With great challenges come the greatest satisfaction however, and we were delighted with the final quality of the facilities. Though the project had demanded a particularly high degree of care - from the planning phase, to initial delivery, and all the way through the establishment and maintenance phases - - the high quality of the final facilities are a testament to the care and commitment of all concerned. Moreover, it speaks to the clear advantages delivered to larger construction firms by engaging with pro-active, specialist contractors such as Turfdry for the delivery of their sports pitch projects.

If you are considering natural sports pitch works - from remediation to full-scale design & construction - be sure to contact Turfdry for carefully considered, cost-effective solutions.