On fields also used for soccer, football bench areas can become muddy problem

areas. Aim to have a consistent

slope through the sideline areas to prevent this

problem.

Sports Field Drainage

By Jim Puhalla
fyou asked turf managers what
single improvement would contribute most to the quality of
their fields, you'd probably
get
"drainage"
more than any other
answer. We've all had to deal with
rainout headaches, but the problems
go even further. Some fields hold so
much water in the spring that they
can't be mowed. If you try to mow,
the equipment causes ruts, and then
you've got two problems to deal with.
For most managers, there are only
two choices for improving drainage: (1)
contouring fields to encourage positive
surface drainage and (2) using internal
drainage systems to relieve waterlogged soil.
Surface Drainage
1. Design for New Construction.
Whether you're designing a single field
or a multi-field complex, each field
should be treated as an individual
drainage unit. No field should be
expected to perform acceptably with
water running across it from an adjacent field. In laying out fields, make

sure to leave enough room outside (and

between) the playing areas for cuts
and fills, catch basins and swales.
Generally, field designs for surface
drainage fall into one of two categories:
a crowned field sloped to the sides or a
flat field sloped to one side or to one
end. The percentage of slope is one to
1.75 percent. If you are relying on surface drainage alone and will not install
internal drainage, use a slope at the
higher end of the range. Soccer fields
are often designed using a lower percentage of slope, so internal drainage
is usually needed.
Probably the most common type of
football field is a crowned field with
level sidelines. However, many facilities use one game field for both football
and soccer. Unless there is consistent
slope through the sideline area which tends to get badly torn up by
foot traffic at the football field bench
area - the outer edges of the soccer
field can become a quagmire.
On baseball and softball fields, the
pitcher's mound should be the high
point of the field. A good skinned area

8 sporfsTURF http://www.sporsturfonline.com

contour design is crowned behind second base, with runoff directed toward
the foul lines. This design helps to
avoid standing water at the outfield
arc, which is a common problem when
a skinned area is meant to drain into
the outfield.
Under most circumstances, internal
drainage is not effective for the
skinned area, where water percolates
through the soil slowly. Positive surface drainage is the only way to ensure
a playable field in wet weather.
Flat fields tend to be built that way
because of the terrain surrounding the
field. If it's impractical or too costly to
build a crowned facility, the flat, sloped
design can work very well. There are
two factors to keep in mind:
-Consider internal drainage, at
least in the lower half of the field, to
prevent it from becoming too wet.
- Make sure your field records show
that it's a flat sloped field, or someone
ten years down the road might try to
"re-crown" the field, causing a real
mess.
2. Reconstruction. Reconstructing

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Topdressing the field, then using a level bar like this one, can even-out the contours and improve surface drainage.

a field is the ideal opportunity to

improve surface drainage. First, conduct a survey to verify how water
moves through and around the field.
Set new grades, then remove the sod
and re-grade. When making cuts,
make sure not to leave two inches of
topsoil in one place and ten inches in
another. If you're making fills, scarify
the soil first to eliminate layering,
which has a detrimental effect on
water movement through the soil.
3. Renovation. A good way to deal
with small drainage problems, such as
mud puddles, is to topdress and use a
level bar across the surface of the field.
This process eliminates the unevenness of the field and provides a betterdraining surface.
4. Maintenance. Many field managers overlook the fact that careful
maintenance practices can help prevent drainage problems. Cutting the
grass shorter during wet periods
allows sunlight to reach the soil and
dry it faster. Aeration (especially deeptine aeration with vibration to fracture
soil) can also help open up the soil for
better drainage, and will allow air into
the soil profile.
There are soil amendments that can
help in emergency situations - such
as the diatomaceous earth products
now on the market. Typical examples
include Agro-Tech 2000's Axis for soggy
grass areas and Play Ball! for skinned
areas. Additives absorb some of the
water and help firm up muddy soil.
Internal Drainage Systems
According to Don Grigsby of Lun-

Drain Inc., internal drainage systems

are often rated in terms of the "life of
the system" - a useful measurement
because some soil types will slowly
infiltrate the drainage structure and
eventually clog the system. Before
installing any drainage system, check
with your supplier to find out the life
of the system you're planning to install
and the things you can do to extend its
life. Two common ways to extend system life are by digging wider trenches
and using filter cloths.
1. Common Problems. In an
internal drainage system, maybe the
most common problem is drainpipe
that does not slope properly toward

the outlets. Standing water in poorly

sloped pipe seeps into the soil and
eventually creates a soggy surface
through capillarity. A consistent downhill slope toward the outlet will keep
the pipe clean by washing the fines out
of the pipe.
Another common problem is crushing of the pipe by heavy equipment. In
fact, heavy equipment also causes
another drainage problem. A heavily
compacted sub-base prevents water
from getting to the drainage system.
Many plans and specifications call for
a "compacted sub-base." To the excavator, these specs call for a sheepsfoot
roller or vibrating roller. This equipment makes the sub-base so compacted that it is impervious to water, which
passes through the topsoil but stops at
the sub-base. The un-compacted topsoil will become fully saturated during
a heavy rain, because the sub-base
won't allow the water to pass through.
Actually, the solution to this problem is very simple. Adding to your
specs the instructions "Avoid over-compaction of the sub-base" and "scarify
sub-base before installing topsoil" will
alert the excavator to the drainage
dynamics at work in the field system.
2. Pipe Drains. The traditional
type of drainage system for a sports
field is the pipe drain. Pipe drains
work by slowly and consistently
removing water from the soil profile,
including the sub-soil as well as the
topsoil.
This type of system was once constructed of clay pipe, packed with
coarse sand (typically 12 to 18 inches)

Strip drains can be used to target problem areas, like this one in front of a soccer goal.

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around the sides and top of the pipe, to

prevent the system from filling up
with silt and clay. The trenches in
which the pipes are laid (usually 1 1/2
to 3 feet deep) are filled in with gravel
to a level about 6 inches beneath the
surface, then are filled to ground level
with soil. Today's drainpipe systems
use perforated pipe, and need to be
back-filled with gravel around the
pipe.
3. Strip Drains. Modern technology is also providing some new solutions to the challenge of properly
draining fields. One of these new solutions is called strip drains, produced
by companies such as Lun-Drain.
These are cloth-wrapped polyethylene
structures about an inch wide and 4 to
6 inches deep. Strip drains are
installed in the top 12 inches of the soil
and require only a 3- to 4-inch-wide

Installing

trench. The strip drain is placed in the

bottom of the trench and extends halfway to the surface. The trench is then
filled with coarse sand to surface level.
The sand should have less than 5 percent passing a 100-sieve screen. Strip
drains should be laid out 45 to 90
degrees to the direction of the surface
drainage and sloped one-half to one
percent toward collector drains.
The advantage of a strip drain system is that the sand-filled trenches at
surface level drain away some of the
surface water without requiring it to
flow all the way across the field. Strip
drains also can be used as a targeted
system to attack problem areas where
water tends to collect.
Catch Basins
Catch basins are another common
drainage structure used for sports
fields and can be used in two ways.

a "sand drain" along the inside of a track can help to drain both the

track and the field area inside.

10 sports TURF http://www.sporsturfonline.com

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They can aid in surface drainage

where the surrounding terrain stops
the movement of water, and they can
be the "junction boxes" of internal
drainage systems, allowing you to
monitor their effectiveness. With any
sports field, place the catch basins well
outside the field of play and use a.
small grid on top.
One common drainage
system
design (often used with a crowned football or soccer field with a level 400meter running track around it) uses a
number of catch basins around the
field, with swales from basin-to-basin
to assist surface runoff. This approach
has two drawbacks: it creates an awkward appearance of hills and valleys
along the field edge, and the swales
tend to stay wet for extended periods
during rainy conditions.
A better option is to install a trench
next to the track, sloping downward
toward the outlets. Lay a one-half inch
bed of pea gravel in the trench, then a
4-inch perforated pipe. Next, fill pea
gravel to within 6 inches of the surface, top with coarse sand, and seed.
The best sand has less than 5 percent
passing a 100-sieve screen. The "sand
drain" will serve as an open catch
basin, draining both field and track,
and eliminating the annoying swales
to catch basins.
Conclusion
The secret to good field drainage is
planning. Obviously, the best time to
solve drainage problems is before they
happen, when the field is being built.
On existing
fields with serious
drainage problems, the wise course is
to identify the most serious underlying
problem and to plan ways to correct it.
Stop-gap measures can provide a temporary fix, but unless a plan is developed for correcting the big problems,
the "band-aid" fixes will have to be
done over and over.
In the mean time, identify the steps
needed to really correct the field's
drainage, establish a timetable and
budget, and start working with boosters or community users of the field to
raise the money to do the job right.
Jim
Puhalla
is president
of
Sportscape
International
of
Boardman, Ohio, and Dallas, Texas,
and is the co-author, with Mississippi
State University professors Dr. Jeff
Krans and Dr. Michael Goatley, of a
forthcoming book, Sports Fields - A
Manual for Design, Construction and
Maintenance, to be published by Ann
Arbor Press, Inc. Chelsea, Michigan.