Natural Turf Field Case Studies
From the little leagues to the MLB, Hydrawy has worked on countless natural turf fields.
Solution: Several factors had to be considered when designing a system for this field. Since the field was below sea level, it had an existing 30 mil liner 12” below the turf to keep ground water from seeping into the field from the bottom. The stadium has a concrete seating area so the water was running off it to the field. The only place to take the water was out to (1) 12” CMP outlet that ran out though center field. The pipe went through a levee to a creek behind it.
It was decided that Hydraway 12” be install horizontally to maximize the best drainage we can get given that this area of the country recieves frequent micro burst rain events. The Hydraway Engineering Team completed the drainage design in-house. It was decided that we would put the drainage system on 13’ spacing and 7’ spacing in the tarp drop area. Timeline for the total construction was (1) month.
Result: The field has been working perfectly over the years and has not had a rain-out due to heavy rains before a game.
“When it was decided to rebuild our field, the Hydraway drainage system was a great alternative. It was convenient for retrofitting the field with its high inflow rate and compressive strength during construction. In August, an afternoon thunderstorm arose over the ballpark at 3 pm on game day. By 3:30, the only things visible on the field were the infield and bullpen tarps. At 3:45, the stadium had received 3.17” of rain. The Zephyrs were on the field, playing by 7:30 with compliments from the Pacific Coast League and its umpires.”
Project: Toronto Blue Jays Spring Training Fields
Location: Florida Auto Exchange Stadium, Dunedin, FL
Product: Hydraway 2000
Application: New Drainage System installed on several Natural Grass fields
Problem: After a rain event, the fields were unplayable for days.
Solution: The Toronto Blue Jays first contacted us to try out Hydraway on a single field. They gave us their worst draining field to see if the system would work. Immediately after installation, they realized the system worked wonders. In the course of 3 years, they have installed Hydraway 2000 on several of their practice fields and most recently, on the game field at the Florida Auto Exchange Stadium.
Result: As a result of the success the Blue Jays experienced, several MLB teams would play at the Blue Jays fields instead of their own fields as they were unplayable.