PANSTADIA & ARENA MANAGEMENT 1ST QUARTER 2016 COVER & PROTECT
Terraplas describe how, following a rigorous selection process, Stade de France has chosen terratrak plus® to cover and protect their running track, which hosts the IAAF World Athletics Championship.
onsortium Stade de France Although football and Rugby Union Terraplas laid a layer of geotextile C– the owner/operator of the are the main sporting events at Stade underneath the terratrak plus® to give 81,338-capacity Stade de France de France, once a year it becomes the a cushion effect, which also allows the – undertook months of intensive arena for the IAAF World Athletics track to breathe. Use of the geotextile trials and tests of the many different Championship. This means that the considerably reduces any chance of products on the market to find the running track is partially covered for disease building up on the track, which optimum solution to cover and protect much of the year with retractable would cause discolouration damage. their Mondo running track. Following seating, which leaves the running track ® this rigorous process the decision was vulnerable to damage. terratrak plus , which was introduced made to purchase a terratrak plus® by Terraplas in 2010, has been system, with Terraplas supervising Safe & secure phenomenally successful, selling over 2 the first install in February 2016 and 140,000m (1.5 million sq ft) to date. For this reason the stadium needed It has been sold in the UK, Europe, providing training to the Stade de a protective cover system that was France team. USA, Australia, South Africa and South capable of being fitted for lengthy America, with client venues including As the home of the French national periods without the risk of damage to such iconic stadiums as Wembley football team, this iconic venue was the track. They also needed a system National Stadium, Principality Stadium built to be the centrepiece for the that would allow full flexibility for (formerly Millennium Stadium), and 1998 FIFA World Cup, and has since access to and from the playing area, now Stade de France. been central to the 1999 and 2007 as well as the ability to be driven on Rugby World Cups, as well as UEFA’s by heavy duty vehicles, like cranes, Terraplas’ Robert Else, advised: Champions League finals. It will again forklifts and trucks. Consortium Stade “There is no doubt that the terratrak be the focus of football attention when de France have therefore replaced their plus® system is quickly becoming the it hosts the final ofUEFA’s Euro 2016 old cover system with terratrak plus®, ‘go to’ product to cover and protect championships this summer, as well which fulfils all of their requirements running tracks at multi-use stadiums as a number of group matches and a and means they can quickly and easily around the globe, as well as being quarter final. remove it for athletics, then re-fit to go recognised as the ‘world’s best turf back to football/rugby or concert mode. protection system’.” n
www.terraplas.com
138 PLAY turf and playing surface protection