The first stage of the assessment comprised a site visit to assess the conditions on site, inspection of existing drainage infrastructure, if encountered, and to assess any other factors such as soil conditions and off site sources of water, which maybe impacting on the quality of the sports pitch.
The site visit highlighted several key factors which were found to contribute to the poor conditions:
- A series of springs were found to issue along the northern boundary of the site, previous attempts to drain the spring line appear to be ineffective.
- The soils beneath the topsoil were found to be clay dominated and were poorly drained.
- Existing drainage infrastructure was in poor condition with evidence of ochre and partial blockages.
After the initial site inspection and assessment of the factors which were contributing to the poor conditions on site, CDS were able to design a drainage strategy to alleviate the problems encountered on site.
The design included:
- The inclusion of lateral interceptor drains along the northern boundary to capture spring flow before it enters the site or alternatively the excavation of an open ditch to intercept the flow.
- Improvement of the playing area by installing new lateral and collector drains.
- Improvement of surface drainage by decompaction of playing field areas and improvement of playing fields by infilling depressions and reseeding where required.
- Improvement and enhancement of existing wetland areas to increase biodiversity and improve storage capacity.
On completion of the detailed drainage design report, CDS provided our client with detailed drainage drawings and tender specification documents in order to go to market for competitively priced tender submissions.
