A Guide to Drainage
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EFFECT OF DRAIN SPACING ON GROUNDWATER LEVEL AND PLANT DAMAGE
football club or a Ryder Cup venue , play has to commence on a certain day at a certain time regardless of two hours torrential rain beforehand . Clearly the need for rapid drainage is essential and a much more intensive drainage system is required in these situations . Also a higher budget !
SECONDARY DRAINAGE
Secondary drainage such as sand slits and gravel bands can further increase the rate of drainage of surface water from sportsturf . They are installed to supplement a primary piped drainage system .
In contrast , though sportsturf has the same requirement to lower the water table to prevent plant damage , it has an additional requirement for very quick surface drainage . This favours shallower more closely spaced drains . Though drains can be shallower because of the need to support lower ground pressure machinery , they are often put in at a similar depth to cater for secondary drainage , but they will generally be much more closely spaced to as little as say 10 or 5 metres on winter games pitches . For areas where surface conditions are critical such as golf greens and bowling greens , drains may be even more intensive with some systems using very shallow small diameter pipes at 500 mm spacing .
The main consideration affecting intensity of drainage on sportsturf is how quickly does the surface need to drain . If its parkland where you go to play with the kids or take the dog for walk , though good conditions underfoot are necessary , the need for quick drainage is somewhat less than say a local parish football pitch . Heavily used school playing fields may need rather more to keep them in play . With sports clubs there begins to be a financial consequence if a surface is unplayable . You eventually reach the point when because of fixture timetables , paying members or spectators , or television coverage , be it a premier league
10 Issue 67