The Home Depot Center in Carson, California was the sight of a spectacular sports field transformation. In only six days, crews transformed the existing 82,500 sq ft natural grass field, which hosts David Beckham and the Los Angeles Galaxy, into a state-of-the-art AstroTurf field. A top-notch crew of ten technicians installed over 15,000 structural base panels in under 18 hours. AstroTurf GameDay Grass 3D60 Extreme turf was easily positioned, seamed, and infilled…completing the project in a record-setting SIX DAYS!
The field is playing host to the California Interscholastic Federation’s State Championship Football Bowl Games, the Doble Clasico Centroamericano International Soccer Match, and the AstroTurf NFLPA Collegiate Bowl, which airs on January 21, 2012 on the NBC Sports Network in the USA. This amazing field has far exceeded the expectations of all those involved. From the installation process, to performance testing, to player response, to ball roll, this project was perfect. Saving the best for last, the entire field will be disassembled and moved down the road and re-installed in its permanent home shortly after the last event. Now that is amazing!
The existing natural turf was expertly removed by The Home Depot Center grounds crew and the sand base was laser graded and compacted to panel installation specifications. The field was measured and marked, ready for the 14 rolls of 6.5 oz spun-bond, permeable geotextile.
Panels were easily shuttled to the job site to begin base installation. The crew quickly got into the groove of panel installation and the first day they averaged 2,500 sq ft per hour.
The second day the installation rate jumped to 6,000 sq ft of panels installed per hour, completing the 82,500 sq ft on the morning of the third day for a total base installation time of less than 18 hours.
As soon as the panels were completed, the first rolls of turf were staged into position. The interlocking structural base panels had no difficulty in handling the load of the tractor, turf and infill equipment. The turf installation process continued for the next two days and the sea of black panels was rapidly covered with the beautiful AstroTurf GameDay Grass 3D60 Extreme product.
Confident the turf would not move due to the panel design, the crew wasted no time infilling the turf, and the new state-of-the-art synthetic turf field at The Home Depot Center was complete and ready for painting.
