Provision of Turf Surfaces for Major Football Stadiums in Europe: Environmental Issues and Design Criteria

University of Kentucky UKnowledge XXI International Grassland Congress / VIII International Grassland Congress Proceedings International Rangeland Congress Provision of Turf Surfaces for Major Football Stadiums in Europe: Environmental Issues and Design Criteria Stephen W. Baker Sports Turf Research Institute, UK Follow this and additional works at: https://uknowledge.uky.edu/igc Part of the Plant Sciences Commons, and the Soil Science Commons This document is available at https://uknowledge.uky.edu/igc/21/11-1/1 The XXI International Grassland Congress / VIII International Rangeland Congress took place in Hohhot, China from June 29 through July 5, 2008. Proceedings edited by Organizing Committee of 2008 IGC/IRC Conference Published by Guangdong People's Publishing House This Event is brought to you for free and open access by the Plant and Soil Sciences at UKnowledge. It has been accepted for inclusion in International Grassland Congress Proceedings by an authorized administrator of UKnowledge. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Multifunctional Grasslands in a Changing World Volume Ⅱ 瞯 2 83 瞯 ] Provision of turf surfaces for major football stadiums in Europe :environmental issues and design criteria S W Baker S ports Tur f Research Institute , Bingley BD16 1A U , United K ingdom . E‐mail : stephen .baker＠ stri .org .uk Key points : Major football stadiums present a significant challenge for the grow th of healthy turf because of soil compaction and wear resulting from play , in an environment with significant le‐vels of shade and restricted air movement . Turf drainage and grow th can be improved by the use of carefully selected sand dominated rootzones . The stability of the turf , which may decrease if grass cover is lost , can be improved by reinforcement of the grass layer by various types of plastic fibre . Quantification of potential light levels and airflow during the design stage is important to maximise the amount of light and air movement for the pitch in relation to the constraints of other architectural design criteria . A number of potential methods of improving the growing environment within stadiums is discussed , of which transparent roof tiles and artificial lighting systems in particular are being increasingly used . Key words : football pitch , rootzone , reinforcement , shade , photosynthetically active radiation Introduction Football ( soccer) is the most popular spectator sport in Europe and in most countries large s＝ta９d０iu０m０s０are needed to accommodate supporters . Some o＝f ７t４he５l０a０rgest stadiums in Europe include Wembley i＝n ８E５ng０l０an０d ( capacity , ) , the Millennium Stadium in Wales (＝c９ap８ac０i０ty０ , ) , the San Siro Stadium in Italy ( ca＝pa８c０ity０００ , ) , the Nou Camp Stadium in Barcelona , Spain ( capacity , ) and the Stade de France , Paris ( capacity , ) . Particularly in northern Europe , where protection from rain is important１,９m９５any of these large stadia have extensive roof structures that create significant problems with shade and air movement ( Baker a , b) . Pitch provision in stadiums of this size provide some unique challenges with respect to ensuring healthy grass grow th and a high quality playing surface . Problems are often made more acute by multiple use of the stadiums for events as diverse as pop concerts , motorcycle racing , boxing and evangelical meetings . The main design requirements for the pitch include : i) adequate drainage rates to avoid the risk of surface water which could res‐ult in games being cancelled or abandoned , ii) a suitable growing medium that allows a reasonable balance between air filled and capillary pore space to support healthy grass grow th , iii) adequate light to support the most appropriate grass species for the area concerned , iv) adequate air movement to help dry the surface and reduce the risk of problems with surface algae and disease , v) heating systems or pitch covering in colder climates to prevent problems with snow and frost . ‐ The objective of this paper is to review the technology used to support high quality playing surfaces and to provide the best possible growing conditions for turf in areas with potentially high levels of wear and environmental stress . Construction profiles and rootzone selection Europe has a wide range of climatic conditions and this can influence both the co１nstruction methods that are used and grass selection . Examples of average temperatures and rainfall totals are given in Table . Excess rainfall over evaporation rates for much of the playing season means that good drainage is essential in most of northern Europe but , even in drier areas in southern Europe , allowance must be made for high intensity rainfall events , which could disrupt play . In most of Europe , the main playing season is from August , through the winter months into May , but in Scandinavia the harsher winter means that play is mainly from spring through the summer into the autumn , and elsewhere in parts of northern Europe ( eg . Germany) there is a short winter break . １１９８６ Most１m９８a１jor groun１d９s８in８ Europe are constructed with a rootzone layer over a gravel drainage layer , eg . Figure a ( Adams , , DIN , Baker ) . However , for sm‐aller stadiums or in drier parts of Europe , the rootzone may be placed over １the natural so１i９l８w１ith varyi１n９g８i２ntensities１o９f８８under drainage being added , dependent on soil type and design rainfall ‐rates ( Figure b) ( Adams ; Baker ; Baker ) . The composition of the rootzone layer is usually dominated by sand size particles but there can be some variation depending on climate factors and , to a lesser extent , availability of suitable materials . Grasslands/Rangelands Production Systems ——— Amenity and Conservation Turf and Turf‐grass 瞯 2 84 瞯 Multifunctional Grasslands in a Changing World Volume Ⅱ ] Table 1 Climate data relev ant to pitch design f or selected cap ital cities in Europe . Annual rainfall Highest monthly average Lowest monthly average Latitude ℃ ℃ ( mm) temperature( ) temperature( ) ６０２８６３１６ ‐７ Oslo . N 破亮Ζ ５２５５８１１８ ‐１ Berlin . N 破亮Ζ ５１５６１１１７４ London . N 破北Ζ ４９０６１２１９３ Paris . N 破北Ζ ４０５４２９２４５ Madrid . N 破北Ζ The grading of the sand u‐sed and , in addition , the uniformity of particles and p１a９r８ti３cle shape will have１a９９m９ajor influence on drainage performance , air filled pore space , water retention and stability ( Baker ; Zhang２０&０６Baker ) . In the Unite４d‐ ８K％ingdom , examples of typical rootzones for professional football grounds are g０iv１e２n５b‐０y B５aker ( ) and usually ２contain only silt and clay with the sand fraction dominated by material in the range１８０. ３５ . ４m１m９９d１iameter ５(‐F１i８g％ure ) . In Central Europe , published standards for rootzones in Germany , for example , ( DIN Part et a)l allo２w００４ silt and c２la０y％and potentially coarser sand materials . In‐hotter and drier parts of Europe , such as Italy , Cereti . ( ) indicate that ‐ of pitches used at professional and semi professional level had all sand profiles while most of the remaining pitches had a sand soil mix as the rootzone layer . Figure 1 Ty pical construction p ro f iles o f suspended w ater table construction w ith rootzone overlying a gravel drainage layer (1a top ) and the rootzone layer p laced on top o f the existing soil w ith v arying levels o f under‐drainage (1b , bottom) ( f rom Baker 2006) . ‐ Surface stability can be an issue on sand dominated surfaces when play takes place １o９u７ts８ide the mainetpearliod１o９f８g５rass grow th , and grass cover and root density are lost through wear ( Van Wijk & Beuving ; Adams . ) . Under these circumstances ,eat vaalrie１t９y８o８f artificia１l ９r９ei７nforcement １m９a９t７erials are f２r０e０q２uently used to retain２s０u０r６face stability and improve playing quality ( Baker . ; Baker a ; Adams ; Gibbs ; Spring & Baker ) . Examples currently i０n u１se at professional fo３o５tball clubs in England include Fibresand , consisting o０f ２p５o‐l０yp３ro５p％ylene/ polyurethane fibres of around . mm diameter and mm length blended with ２t０h０e rootzone m２０ix at a rate of . by weight ; GrassMaster consisting of fibres punched into the rootzone to a depth of mm and mm spacing , and XtraGrass , a system whereby natural turf grows through a woven synthetic fabric . Grasslands/Rangelands Production Systems— Amenity and Conservation Turf and Turf‐grass Multifunctional Grasslands in a Changing World Volume Ⅱ 瞯 2 85 瞯 ] Although the selection and appropriate management of the rootzone should provide adequate drainage , a number of major stadiums in Europe also incorporate a suction system linked to the pitch drainage in case of exceptionally high intensity rainfall either just before or during matches . Undersoil heating and pitch covering systems １９５０１９５４１９８０ Undersoil heating systems ha３v２e％been available since the s ( Escritt２７％ ) and by the s were commonly used at major stadiums with , for example , of１t９o８p８division clubs in England and of top division clubs in Scotland using some form of undersoil heating ( Murphy & Baker ) . Today virtually all clubs in the upper divisions of football in England have undersoil heating and this would also be t２h５e０case in larger sta２d５i０ums in much of northern１E９u９r４ope . By f１a９r９t７he most widely used systems are heated water pipes typically at １９m９m４ depth and mm centres ( Boocock , Baker b) . Pitch covering systems are also used to retain heat ( Boocock ) . Figure 2 Particle size distribution o f rootzone used at p ro f essional soccer grounds in England . Grass selection ‐ Lolium perenne Poa p ratensis １９８３

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