IMPROVEMENT OF THE DRAINAGE CAPACITY IN SPORTS TURF

In low budget pitches construction, native soil is often scattered above the draining layer in order to reduce construction cost. In such cases a rapid deterioration of turf quality and considerable limitations of the pitch use are occurring. Slit drainage has the capacity to connect the drainage layer with the soil surface. Machinery able to dig trenches and fill them with two layers of draining material of different particle size (coarser in the lower and finer in the upper surface) was designed and assembled. The technical characteristics of that machinery and the results of its use in a football field are reported.