O,,'AR/Oe Budgeting for Sports Field ConstructionCHRIS MARK· TOWN OF OAKVILLE· STA DIRECTOR

Inthe past year, the Town of Oakvillehas undertaken construction of four

. soccer fields that will collectivelyform one of the Town's primary locationsfor tournaments. Field construction beganin late winter 2001 with the fields antici-pated being open in May 2002. Threefields were topsoil fields with each fieldmeasuring 100 m x 64 m and one fieldmeasured 105 m x 73 m. This article willdiscuss the costs associated with con-structing quality athletic soccer fieldsalong with some helpful hints to savemoney and potential headaches.

The costs associated with quality ath-letic fields is significant, not only in theinitial construction but also later in termsof ongoing maintenance. Financial andland decisions with regard to the size andnumber of fields usually must be madeseveral years in advance of actual field andpark construction. The key is to develop aplan and remain true to your vision be-cause there will be many bumps along thepath to success.

With losing the ability to purchase park-land under the Development Charges Act,most municipalities do not have the luxuryto purchase additional land for majorsports parks. Hence obtaining enoughparkland for a major sports park with onlythe 5% parkland dedication available un-der the Planning Act often means amass-ing land from several landowners. Thesenegotiations, discussions with your fi-nance staff to ensure the funding is inplace, and ultimately, the approval by

elected officials can prove challenging anddifficult. However, if one remains focusedon the quality of the fields and venue, theresults can be most gratifying.

In planning athletic fields, the use ofthe fields should govern the type of con-struction and follow-up maintenance pro-gram. Are you constructing fields to beused for a couple of days per week, ordaily? If your requirements dictate a needfor fields for use during weekends, it isdifficult to justify spending the approxi-mate $250,000 premium for a sand basefield. If you are planning to install lightsso the field can host two games perevening, plus weekend play and tourna-ments, the additional costs associated withproper drainage, irrigation and a modifiedroot zone are well worth the extra money.Another critical planning decision iswhether you can afford the follow-upmaintenance program. This program mustbe geared to the type of field constructed.A sand base field, complete with lightingand irrigation, will require significantlymore maintenance dollars than a topsoilfield without lights or irrigation. Do notconstruct a field you cannot afford tomaintain following construction!

Another important decision is tender-ing the field(s) for construction. Do youwant to tender through a public tender orthrough the developer? Typically we haveachieved good success by tendering largepark and athletic field constructionprojects through the developer. All biddersare pre-qualified to ensure they have the

Edge ofPlaying Field

PlayoutLine

Sand SlitsCoarse Sand -Crushed Stone

Figure 1: Field Drainage

12 • MARCH 2002

experience and expertise to construct qual-ity athletic fields. We have also identifiedqualified sub-contractors to ensure thatdrainage, irrigation and electrical elementsare installed by quality trades. Ensurequality sub-trades are hired for the projectthat includes a soil agronomist who canrecommend proper sand and soil and thor-oughly interpret a soil analysis.

Field Sub-Grading $5,500/field

Park pre-servicing costs are minimizedby having the developer undertake thegrading and servicing at the same timethey are performing similar work in thesurrounding subdivision. Typically thedeveloper will have large earthmovers andscrapers already on site so partner withthem to have the park block graded by thisequipment. Bringing such equipment backat a later date will cost 2-3 times more thanundertaking the grading in tandem withthe subdivision. If water, sanitary and elec-trical services are required for the park,coordinate their installation at the sametime these services are being installed inthe surrounding subdivision. Once again,the savings will be substantial.

With overall park grading completed bylarge earthmovers and scrapers, the roughgrading is completed using dozersequipped with laser levels. Sub-grades forthe fields is I % and in our most recentfields, the sub-grade was completely flat.

Field Drainage(4 in. O-Pipe)

$25,OOO/field

Drainage is an area where if you cutcosts initially, it can increase ongoingmaintenance costs at a later date. Thefields were drained with 4 inch O-pipewithout a filter sock. The drainage wasinstalled upon completion of the sub-grad-ing and all material from the trenches wasremoved off-site. The tile was laid on ap-proximate 20 ft. centres across the entirefield (including sideline areas where play-ers benches will be placed) with the tile

graded at a 1% slope across the field andthen 2% into the header trench (see Fig.1). All tile was installed using laser con-trolled equipment which ensured the workwas done accurately and quickly. Extremecare was taken to ensure no native soilmigrated into the trenches.

On the topsoil fields, the trenches werefilled with 10 mm of gravel followed by100 mm of sand. It was important to se-lect a stone that did not allow the topsoilfines to move down into the tile and po-tentially leading to a blockage. On thesand base field, the trenches were filledwith gravel followed by a 100 mm blan-ket layer of gravel across the entire fieldfollowed by 12 inches of sand.

Field Drainage(Slit Drainage)

$17,000/field

On the topsoil fields, it was decided toinclude slit drainage as well as the 4 in 0-pipe drainage. The slits are approximately2-3 inches wide and are filled with coarsesand. The slits extend down the length ofthe field and are installed to the depth ofthe a-pipe. This work is done when thefields are sodded and well rooted. It isanticipated the slit drainage will be in-stalled in fall 2002.

Field ProfileSand BaseTopsoil Base

$250,000ljield$100,000ljield

As one can see, the premium cost for asand base field profile is significant. Inboth cases, the field profile was 12 inches/300 mm. The individual field profiles arelisted as Fig.2 and Fig. 3. For specific in-formation with regard to the sand and top-soil specification, the author may becontacted, or consult the Sports Turf As-sociation publications Understanding TurfManagement or Constructing the SportsField.

IrrigationIrrigation SystemIrrigation Building

$14,000ljield$10,000 lump sum

In Oakville, we use pre-cast concretebuildings that serve as both irrigation andelectrical buildings. One of the criticaldesign criteria was to ensure the water

Figure 2: Sand-based Field

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Sod as Specified

Sand Based Soil Mixture

Crushed Stone

100mm Perforated PVCDrainage Tile Without Filter,Min. Slope 0.5%

Undisturbed Subsoil

Figure 3: Soil-based Field

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g ij.1~iI~j~1~!.~i~~:::eT~~~~ilg Crushed Stoner-

:io 100mm Perforated PVC~~ Drainage Tile Without Filter,

Min. Slope 0.5%Undisturbed Subsoil

service and pipe sizing permitted all fourfields to be watered in one night. (ie. be-gin irrigation at 11:30 pm and be com-pleted by 6:30 am) Another importantdesign element was ensuring that eachfield system could be isolated for repairsor different shut down schedules in the fall.Since we seeded the fields, it was criticalto have the system installed prior to theactual seeding. We havehad good successwith both Rainbird and Toro irrigationsystems.

SeedingSodding

$10,500ljield$17,000ljield

Seeding or sodding the fields is an im-portant decision for the turf manager. Oneis more expensive than the other, but costalone should not be the only considera-tion. Expected use of the field followingconstruction will also have to be consid-ered when deciding whether to seed orsod. The general rule of thumb for fielduse following completion is six monthsfor seed and six weeks for sod. In Oakville,we prefer to seed the fields if time per-mits to incorporate the best sport fieldblends at the outset. For the topsoil fields,

we used 75% bluegrass (varieties of Wash-ington, Alpine and Touchdown) and 25%turf-type perennial rye (Cutter). For non-irrigated fields, we have specified 50%Mustang tall fescue with 40% Kentuckyblue and 10% Shortstop tall fescue.

Electrical Lighting $11 0,OOOljieid

On average, $110,000 per field isneeded for lighting, that includes bring-ing the power from the local utility to youron-site electrical building. All fields werelit with 1,000 watt metal halide fixtureswith full cut-off controls with minimallight spillage. Field lighting uniformity isabsolutely critical. Do not try and savemoney by using fewer poles and shorterpoles. The fields were lit with either 70 ft.or 80 ft. poles. Due to the significant leadtime required for pole delivery (4-6months), we ordered the poles separatelyfrom the contract to ensure delivery coin-cided with the contract tender award. Pushbutton controls are installed at each fieldfor users to tum on/off the lights. Recep-tacles are also installed in each power con-trol post for PA systems, portablegenerators, etc. for tournaments.

SPORTS TuRF MANAGER • 13

This sports park is located near a resi-dential community. The fields will be litnightly from May to September. We madesure the developer building the homesbacking directly onto the lit sports parkincluded a warning clause in each salesagreement. This warning clause indicatedthey had purchased a home adjacent to alit park facility. It is also helpful to installthe lights prior to building permit issuance.

Fencing $20,OOO/jield

For premier fields, we fence the entirefield to restrict access to users with a fa-cility permit. It costs approximately$42.50/linear meter (6 ft. high) usingSchedule 40 pipe, 9 gauge fabric. Doublegates are installed at both ends of the fieldon both sides for maintenance equipment.One of the design criteria was ensuring abucket truck could drive down the side-lines of the field to service the lights with-out crossing the field. In many cases, weincrease the height of the fencing behindgoal nets to 10ft. in an attempt to keep

balls in play (and out of neighboursyards).

Misc. Items $20,OOO/jield(bleachers, goal posts, benches, waste re-ceptacle)

Our typical bleachers are aluminum, 4rows and just under 4 feet in height. Theends of the bleachers are painted yellowfor greater visibility to avoid accidentsfrom glare. Benches are anodizedaluminum. Players' benches are alsoaluminum, 5 meters long and installedpermanently in the ground. Goal posts are8 feet high x 24 feet wide painted whitewith an epoxy powdercoat finish. Wastereceptacles that have been very success-ful are the deep below ground 300 gallonunits that hold large volumes of garbageand do not need frequent pickups.

Final CostsIn conclusion, costs associated with

athletic field construction are significantand careful choices and decisions must be

made that have impacts on the initial con-struction cost and the future maintenancecosts. Do not build a field you cannot af-ford to maintain or build a field that doesnot coincide with the intended usage.

The average construction cost for a pre-mier sand base field (tile drained, irrigated,lit, fully fenced with bleachers, playersbench and goal posts) is approximately$465,000 for a seeded surface, $471,500as a sodded surface. The average cost fora premier topsoil base field (tile drained,slit drained, irrigated, lit, fully fenced withbleachers, players benches and goal posts)is approximately $332,000 for a seededsurface. As a sodded surface, the costwould be in the range of $338,500. •

Coming EventsMark Your Calendar!

STA's Anm-lal Field Day will bemoved from August to Septemberthis year. Stay tuned for detail~.

14 • MARCH 2002

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