M.Collins Completes Construction of Sydney’s Newest AFL and Cricket Stadia
by Anna Collins & Gary Beehag
Sydney's leading sportsground construction company,
M. Collins and Sons (Contractors) Pty Limited, recently completed the
construction and maintenance of two, new state-of-the-art AFL/Cricket
sportsgrounds at Blacktown Olympic Park, a joint venture between
Blacktown City Council, AFL NSW and Cricket NSW. The contractual
inclusions of this elite sportsground construction project was not only
the enormity of the project in terms of material volume requirements
and time frame but significantly the degree of intensity and scrutiny
of conformance testing and external auditing and documenation required
for the sportsground growing media, cricket wicket clay soil and
drainage gravel. The two elite sportsgrounds were constructed using the
well proven “perched water table” derived from golf green
constructions.
The project's scope of works comprised final preparation and
stabilization of imported sub-base soil, installation of an elaborate
system of plastic draining pipes with associated outlets, installation
of an automatic irrigation system and production, delivery and
consolidation of high-quality growing media and drainage gravel and
finally, supply and installation of washed couchgrass (Cynodon
dactylon). The contract concluded in July following a 12-week period of
post-grassing maintenance. M. Collins and Sons were awarded this
prestigious contract in October 2008 when the initial site
establishment and land survey were conducted. The Collins Contracting
Team responsible for the works were under the watchful contract
management of Dave Pocock, and overseen by project manager, John
Matthews.
Sportsfield construction and contracting experience, effective
co-ordination, qualified service and quality-control management
systems. This was the recipe skilfully used by M. Collins & Sons
for the construction of these two elite sportsgrounds. The construction
of the two new cricket wickets and surrounding playing fields involved
a meticulous process, throughout which M. Collins & Sons was able
to utilise their proven wicket and sportsfield construction knowledge.
The Collins experience dates back to 1895 when the company built the
cricket wicket at the Sydney Cricket Ground. Over one hundred years on,
Collins' expertise is still alive has been showcased again in the
construction of what is designed to be Sydney's second major cricket
and AFL facility. Managing Director, Matt Collins, says that the
company prides itself on being Sydney's oldest and most established
sportsturf contractor. “It is amazing that one company can continue
among the leaders in a field for over one hundred years, and still be
reknown for the same quality and old-fashioned service,” Collins says.
The Scope of Works
Drainage aggregate and pipework
The detailed drainage design beneath the cricket
wicket table and sportsgrounds at Blacktown Olympic Park involved the
excavation of a series of 250mm-wide drainage trenches, according to a
herringbone pattern including a perimeter drain around the wicket,
which drained into the base at its lowest point. Plastic drainage pipes
were enveloped with drainage aggregate in the constructed trenches and
the entire subgrade was overlain by a layer of clean, washed, crushed
CRG at a minimum thickness of 100mm. The finished surface grade met
specification at a tolerance of 25mm. Production, stockpiling and
testing of the drainage aggregate included a Quality Management Plan
documented and implemented by M. Collins. Industry-recognized
construction engineering factors of bridging, uniformity and
permeability were required and met for the drainage aggregate against
the growing media. The contract required on sample per 500 cubic metres
of drainage aggregates to be tested and approximately 6,000 tonne of
drainage aggregate was required.
Cricket wicket tables
In excess of 1,000 cubic metres of Collins wicket soil was required to
complete the construction of the cricket wicket tables. The
construction of the two centre wicket tables and one practice wicket
was completed by the sequential installation of Collins wicket soil in
three layers, ensuring each clay soil layer was compacted according to
requirements of the specification by field measurement. The first two
layers of wicket soil were 100mm in depth and screened at 15mm, whilst
the surface layer was 50mm in depth and screened at 5mm. Once
completed, the wicket table profile was frequently irrigated and
rolled, ensuring the finished surface would not show any signs of
ponding and that it was the required 50mm higher than the surrounding
playing field. Collins washed Legend couchgrass was selected for the
wicket, renowned for its vigorous root growth and tolerance to wear and
recovery from physical wear.
Sportsground growing media
The nominated specification required for the sportsground growing media
was the AGCSATech Sand Specification and the product was
organically-amended using a processed fowl manure. The growing media
was sourced, produced and stockpiled at the company's Spring Farm
Quarry (Camden) under the scrutiny of Jason Lewis, Collins Quarry
Manager. The supply contract for the growing media was underpinned by a
stringent regime of sampling, external testing and documentation of the
production stockpiles by a NATA-accredited laboratory. In excess
of 18,000 tonnes of amended growing media was required for the two
sportsgrounds. The testing regime required one sample for every 250
cubic metres of the growing media be tested in accordance with USGA
methodology to ensure compliance to physical performance against the
nominated specification. In addition, samples of the growing media were
required to conform against the confidence interval typically included
in USGA specifications and also tested to provide a baseline of sand
fertility and ensure freedom of any parasitic nematodes.
The approved growing medium was initially spread and consolidated on
the playing surface in two 150mm layers. Chemical amendments were
applied to the upper growing medium layer, including the addition of
processed poultry manure, starter fertiliser and trace element mix. The
consolidated growing medium was laser-leveled, surveyed and field
measurements were independently conducted to determine and document
bulk density against the nominated specification to ensure levelness
and consistency prior to turfing.
Turf laying and Establishment
A premium couchgrass (Cynodon dactylon) was selected for the playing
field and washed free of all soil and organic matter at the Company's
Turf Farm at Camden. Throughout this stage, 3,000 square metres of turf
was washed and transported to Blacktown each day, where is was laid
within 24 hours of being harvested. After laying, the turf was rolled
using a light roller and put on an intensive and frequently irrigated
for 5-6 days.
Contract Maintenance
Collins Contracting remained responsible for all maintenance aspects of
the field until handover. The timeline was achieved by attention to
programmed irrigation scheduling, fertiliser application based on the
results of sand nutrition, frequent mowing and topdressing. The
sportsgrounds were mown 2-3 times per week at a mowing height of
20-25mm until handover. Part of the maintenance contract was to monitor
and achieve a root depth of 100mm throughout the outfields at handover.
The Project Outcome
The collaboration of Collins' expertise, experience, management and
communication with Blacktown City Council, saw the successful
completion of the project according to required specifications and
within the tight construction timetable. Collins quality-control
management systems ensured that every stage of the project complied
with required standards. Quality Assurance Manager, Gary Beehag,
ensured that nothing was left to chance, “All the products used
including the gravel, growing media and the turf, and were scrutinised
using rigorous procedures of inspection, quality control and final
auditing.”
None of these procedures, however, were without
careful implementation. Beehag points out, “Whilst quality-control
systems are essential, in the absence of finely tuned sports management
skills, and attention to detail concerning playing surface preparation,
all the documentation and auditing of sportsfield construction projects
is meaningless.”
Collins Project Manager, John Matthews, was appointed to oversee the
works and be on site full-time throughout the completion of the
project. Matthews attributed the success of the project to being able
to be present at Blacktown to supervise all the contractors and
facilitate communication between Blacktown City Council and the various
Collins staff involved both in the office and on the farms. Matthews
was pleased that the project met all specifications and was completed
on time for the council's scheduled AFL tournament earlier this month,
at which he said “the ground stood up to the test.”
Growing Media over Gravel
Stadium 3rd July,2009
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