A school district is going after a Rhode Island landscape architectural firm to recover around the USD 3 million it will have to spend on replacing two synthetic turf surfaces. The district claims that the landscape architects are to blame for a faulty drainage design.
The two fields were opened in March 2023 but started experiencing drainage problems from the very first time the fields experienced rain.
“The fields have been experiencing significant drainage issues, leading to erosion of the playing surface, damage to the surrounding track and bubbling of the field,” Superintendent of Schools Marc Smith told a local publication.
The fields at Dennis Yarmouth Intermediate Middle-School are lined for different sports, including lacrosse, football, soccer and field hockey and are being used by the 491 students enrolled in grades 4 and 5 and 477 students in grades 6 and 7.
"The fields have been experiencing significant drainage issues, leading to erosion of the playing surface, damage to the surrounding track and bubbling of the field"
The issues were assessed and it was determined that the Traverse Landscape Architects who designed the subbase, were to blame.
Lowest bidder awarded
On 17 March, the School Committee awarded the new design contract to R.A.D. Sports of Rockland. The contractor was selected “as the lowest responsive and responsible bidder at a total project cost of USD 3,098,295.”
Budget for the new contractor is already available as the intermediate-middle school building project remained significantly under budget.
“The district is seeking restitution for the design failures that caused this issue in the first place,” Smith said. The lawsuit against Traverse is seeking damages and to cover the cost of replacing the fields.
“We want the taxpayers to understand we are pursuing restitution vigorously,” he added.
Synthetic surfaces are supposed to move rain through a shock pad under the surface and into a subbase material of crushed stone to big drains under the field. It was determined that the subbase was causing the puddles and ponds on the fields, he said.
“Sometimes the field will start to float,” Smith said. The cork infill has, on occasions, also been seen flowing away.
“The district is seeking restitution for the design failures that caused this issue in the first place,”
Cork infill that floats after the first rains on a newly installed field, is nothing new. Once the downpour is drained into the subbase, air that is trapped here due insufficient compaction of the subbase, is pushed up and lifts the cork in the synthetic turf surface. The water falling or standing on the turf, will do the rest.