The Chesapeke car park project's most unique feature is a rooftop soccer field. Minick Materials provided the growing media and fibers at both the sod farm in Tulsa and Oklahoma City. We love love working on cutting edge projects!

1. Airfield Systems

2. The first step in the car
park sports field project
was selecting a site
suitable for growing the
Patriot Bermuda.
Easton sod supplied a
field next to the
Arkansas river with a
consistent water source
and sandy soil for
optimal growing
conditions. Shown is
the initial delivery of the
USGA root zone and
laser grading process.

3. The next phase at
the farm was to
incorporate the
fibers into the top 4
inches of the root
zone profile with a
specialized machine
called a Rotodairon.
Left: Jimmy Hill
with fibersoils and
Zac Moore with
Easton measure the
depth of the
Rotodairon and
fibers.

4. Next, the process of
sprigging requires a
specialized machine to
remove only the top layer of
an established patriot turf.
Once removed another
machine distributes and
presses the sprigs into the
top layer of the root zone.
After sprigging was
completed it had approx. 98
days to mature before being
cut and delivered to the Car
Park.

5. The first phase of
the Airfield system
consisted of
applying a filter
fabric over the foam
insulation on top of
the parking garage.

6. The next step in the
Airfield process was to
cover the insulation
and filter fabric with a
durable PVC liner. The
liner offers an
impermeable surface
under the soil profile to
protect the roof of the
Car Park and allow
consistent drainage.

7. The Airdrain Geogrid phase consisted
of thousands of interlocking grids
placed over the entire surface of the
parking garage. This product offers a
perched water table 10 inches below
the turf. Next, 2 more layers of filter
fabric were applied to the top of the
Geogrid. Above: Michael Bean with
Airdrain demonstrates proper
technique.

8. Once the Airdrain system was
installed it was time for the USGA
Root zone, or “soil profile”. The root
zone consists of a 90% USGA spec
sand and 10% Dakota peat moss
brought in by Minick Materials.
3,000 tons of Root zone was needed
for the project.

9. After allowing about 98 days to mature the
sod was ready to cut. Moisture and
compaction was the key to cutting the sod
consistently. Above: a pavement roller was
brought in to offer the compaction needed.

10. The laser grading at the car park required
special GPS equipment attached to a box
blade which acted independently of the
driver. This process was performed by Bush
Turf out of Illinois along with help from Total
Environment. The grade of the field is within
1/10 of an inch to spec.

11. Left: Jimmy Hill with
Fibersoils and Matt
Taylor with Total
Environment set the
depth of the
Rotodairon. Right:
Once the fibers were
distributed evenly by
Bush Turf the
Rotodairon was used
to blend in the fibers
into the top 4 inches
of the profile.

12. Following the fiber installation handwork and
double steeled rollers were used to press the root
zone and groom out any inconsistencies.

13. On August 2nd the first delivery of sod was
brought to the car park by Easton. The
sod installation phase took approximately
3 days to complete in record breaking
temperatures.

14. As the sod was being laid and positioned
the rollers were brought in again to
press the sod and force the roots to
make contact with the root zone. Due
to the high percolation rate of the root
zone and extreme temperatures,
irrigation was crucial in establishing the
sod quickly.