Further drainage tests okayed for E. Greenwich field
7:05 AM Fri, Aug 07, 2009 | Permalink
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EAST GREENWICH, R.I. - Spooked by discovery in July of water collecting on the newly installed football field at the high school, the committee overseeing the project on Thursday voted to take core samples of the stone and gravel beneath the artificial turf and send it out for independent analysis. The group, meeting in a packed School Department conference room, also decided to call in a plumber who can use remote sensing equipment to see if the pipes designed to carry water from the field have become blocked or damaged. Contractors have already pulled back part of the turf and begun installing an additional drainage system in an attempt to relieve the problem, which became apparent after storms flooded part of the field and the surrounding track. Because of the additional work, all pre-season practices at the facility have already been canceled, said Michael Feeney, chairman of the Fields Construction Committee. The group still hopes that the football team will still be able to play its first game on the new Carcieri field Sept. 3. "From the School Committee's perspective, we want to make sure it's done right" even if it means further delays, said School Committee Chairwoman Jean Ann W. Guliano. The School Committee will pay for the independent analysis out of its budget so there will not be a cost overrun on the project, she said. The latest water problem has given some locals flashbacks to earlier in the decade when the basketball court in the new high school gymnasium -- a controversial project to begin with -- was found to be unusable because it wasn't installed properly. Officials are trying to prevent history from repeating itself. "We have a second-rate situation for something we brought brand new," said Town Councilman Henry V. Boezi, a former public works director for the town, who recommended that core samples be taken throughout the field and that the drainage pipes be checked. He questioned whether the washed stone and gravel that is supposed to provide drainage beneath the artificial turf was installed property. "Whether or not the base was adequate and how it was installed was questionable," he said, explaining that the gravel became visible when workers pulled back the turf to add a makeshift drainage system and looked much too compacted -- almost like concrete. "I saw four to six inches of processed gravel as tight as it can be. That can choke off the drainage," he said. "It could be the entire width of the field." The cores should show if Boezi is correct. "Our taxpayers invested close to a million dollars into this field, and I'd hate to think that, if this isn't working a year later, we're going to have to dig it all up and start all over. And that's a million dollars," he said. The artificial turf carries warranties of one year on installation and eight years on the carpet itself, Feeney said. gemery@projo.com / (401)277-7442
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