The project involved removal of the existing 20,200m² playing surface and reconstructing to a standardised 19,000m² oval to international standards. The construction process involved several distinct stages including:
Demolition and excavation of the exiting surface and boundary infrastructure
Subgrade stabilisation
Construction of the clay dome base
Installation of the irrigation system and communications infrastructure
Laying of Megaflo drainage pipe and spreading of the drainage aggregate
Spreading the rootzone sand and incorporating additives
Turf harvesting and installation; and
Boundary structure and LED panel installation.
Key Challenges
Subgrade stabilisation
The site was located on an historic tip site and subgrade level was within 200mm of the water table. The specified subgrade stabilisation method of cement/lime stabilisation was not practical in some of the softer areas due to the weight of the mixing plant potentially disturbing the ultra-soft subgrade. In these locations Hazell Bros stabilised the subgrade with a geo-grid layer and cement stabilised aggregate.
Sand compliance
One of the most critical parts of the project was ensuring the rootzone sand would meet the USGA specifications, especially around hydraulic conductivity. This required an extensive process of testing in all three phases:
preliminary testing of the proposed sand blends
production testing as suitable sands were stockpiled
testing during placement.
Timeframe
The timeframe was also extremely short – 18 weeks, August to December – with the ground needing to be handed back to give ground staff enough time to fine-tune the surface before its first BBL09 fixture on 30 December.
Hazell Bros completed the project on budget and two weeks ahead of programme. The quality of works surpassed UTAS Stadiums expectations and further enhanced the grounds reputation as an international standard, multi-use, sport playing surface.
The project was awarded the Engineers Australia: Australian Engineering Excellence Awards 2020 (TAS).
