For this design-build project, GRW led the design of the University of Kentucky's game soccer field renovation. The field is an NCAA regulation-sized playing field, used by both the men’s and women’s soccer teams.
Prior to renovation, the game soccer field was a modified native soil field seeded with Quickstand Bermuda grass, and a subsurface drainage system which had not been performing adequately. This design-build project involved a new drainage system and field resurface with Tifway 419 Bermuda Grass. The new drainage system consists of 4-inch perforated pipe under-drains constructed in trenches beneath 5.5 inches of a sand cap base. The sand was tested for specific parameters including permeability, water holding capacity and structural stability. Once the sand cap base was in place, the Tifway 419 Bermuda Grass was placed directly on top of the sand. The new surface and sand cap drainage system are capable of allowing percolation of a 6-inch-per-hour rainfall within 30 minutes of the storm event.