New Sports Village Delivered On Time & On Budget

Press Releasein Football
New Sports Village Delivered On Time & On Budget

Sundorne_1.jpg have continued to go from strength to strength in the last year with the recent completion of a second major contract worth over £1million.

The opening of the new Sundorne Sports Village in Shropshire threw up its own challenges with the site comprising of 13 hectares which has been transformed from a dull uninspiring field known throughout the locality as a 'muddy bog' with uneven pitches into a shining example of what can be achieved when working with knowledgeable contractors.

Aside from the 12 natural grass pitches which were partially stripped of topsoil and re-graded, drained, topsoil re-spread and ameliorated, a full size dynamic 60mm long pile 3G synthetic surface was also installed.

This was a design and build project in which the main contractor engaged with Kestrel to produce the best specification possible within the budget available.

Will Buxton, Contracts Manager commented: "It was interesting in that normally we tender for the works with the specification already dictated, but in this instance we had to produce the design whilst still working under the employers requirements."

Will continued: "We had to ensure that we improved the drainage ability of the site whilst not burdening the client with maintenance issues such as slumping of trenches caused by the non-availability of irrigation."

Kestrel have been involved with many sites throughout the years particularly at local authority level where the standard mains, laterals and sand slits have been installed and with the drier summers that have been experienced of late, the subsoil shrinkage through lack of moisture has rendered pitches unplayable, causing the sand slits slumping. Even where moisture levels are adequate the ban on effective worm control means that casting worms can very quickly cap off sand slits rendering them ineffective. Sundorne_3.jpg

On this particular project, Kestrel had to find a 'happy-medium' in improving drainage, improving the levels, whilst having no ability to irrigate.

Kestrel decided to engage with the client to find out what the real maintenance levels would be, and design a system that had a more realistic chance of being carried out.

Kestrel come across many instances where sportsturf drainage systems are installed on the understanding that recommended maintenance practices will follow on a year by year basis. More often than not this is not followed through and a few years later we are looking at pitches where the client, the specifiers, the contractor, the funding bodies and the end users are not happy with the finished product.

"This is certainly one of the bigger projects Kestrel have been involved in, in terms of the overall area for sports pitches" said Will Buxton. "Not only our management team but also our operatives pulled out all the stops to ensure this project was delivered as agreed pre-works. Good and plentiful communication, plus a tight rein on the budget was essential on this project to allow us to deliver a product of which we are rightly proud of" continued Will.

For the all the latest news, please log-on to www.kestrelcontractors.co.uk

kestrel2.jpg
Article Tags:
Football