Project Description
Established to address the poor standard of pitches available for grassroots football, The FA Parklife Programme is a partnership (between The FA, The Premier League, the UK Government, the Football Foundation and 30 different local authorities) that will eventually see the creation of 150 new football hubs throughout the United Kingdom.
The £20 million Liverpool phase of the programme saw the construction of 12 new floodlit 3G artificial pitches across four existing playing field sites at Heron Eccles, Jeffrey Humble, Jericho Lane and Simpson Ground.
The Challenge
On cutting the formation levels for two of the full size football pitches at Jericho Lane and one of the full size football pitches at Simpson Ground, it was found that the subgrade soils were saturated, and so had insufficient bearing strength to withstand the installation processes associated with the construction of a 3G pitch.
Concerns were also raised that the poor subgrade strength could lead to issues with differential settlement if they were not addressed at the outset of construction.
A rapid and cost effective multi-function solution was required since the funding and budgets had already been agreed for the works, and the site handover dates set.
The Solution
ABG visited the sites to make assessment of the problematic conditions encountered, and subsequently advised the use of Pozidrain 7S250D/NW8 with an impermeable back to provide a positive drainage layer over the entire footprint of the affected pitches. The geocomposite acts as a capping barrier to prevent further water ingress into the already saturated subgrade soils.
Typical 3G pitch build-up including all-in-one Pozidrain geocomposite drainage & capping layer
This also removed the need to install a pipe based lateral drainage system, saving approximately one week of installation per pitch and avoiding additional trafficking of the areas.
ABG’s fast service enabled the projects to catch up to the planned installation programme and handover to the client on time, thereby avoiding late handover penalties for the contractors.
The ABG Service
ABG provided on site assessment, the technical design solution and delivered the required materials to the sites, all within 1 week of being consulted.
