Oakland turf project still on good pace, despite weather issues

Several rainy days last week didn't help the progress of the Oakland artificial turf project.

But project manager Lou Warner of Warner's Athletic Construction said the project is still on a good pace, and clear skies this week should help the crew make up for what lost time it endured last week.

"In the midst of the weather (last week), we still had a productive week, considering," Warner said. "If we can keep the weather the way it is this week, by the end of the week it should be ready for stone."

Stones are placed on the field before laying down the artificial turf. That cannot be done until the field has been completely leveled, having removed all of the topsoil and smoothing out the clay underneath.

The Warner crew is also in the process of removing old drainage pipes and replacing them with new pipes.

Warner said half of the drainage part of the project was completed, and he expected it to be two-thirds complete by the end of Wednesday.

Warner expects a crew to begin laying turf the first week of August, barring any weather or unforeseen setbacks.  

"If the weather stays as it is now, we can make up a lot of time," he said. "In the last seven to eight days we've had four that we were unable to work. When you excavate and remove the topsoil, you have slick clay. When it's dry, it's hard as a rock. But when it's wet, it's very sticky."

The project has an optimistic timetable of being completed by the beginning of football season. Oakland doesn't have a home game scheduled until Aug. 30 against Kenwood.

Oakland football coach Kevin Creasy said he hoped it would be completed by Aug. 16, in which case the Patriots would host a jamboree. Otherwise the team probably would play the jamboree in Gallatin.

The football team isn't the only athletics program awaiting completion of the project. 

The girls soccer team will be playing on the new turf this fall, but the team already has made alternate plans for early season games. The team has moved home scrimmages and will play its first two regular-season home games (vs. Siegel on Aug. 20 and Brentwood on Aug. 22) at Siegel Park.

"Right now we pretty much assume we're not going to be able to get on it until the end of August," Oakland soccer coach Jeff Porter said. "That's forced me to move a couple of home games to away. We've also been able to book Siegel Park for a couple of other games scheduled."

Porter isn't concerned about the early schedule modifications, saying the trade-off of being able to play on turf is worth the wait.

"If anything, it will helps us," Porter said. "If not this season, then down the road. We're not going to have the rainouts we've had in the past. The last couple of seasons we've been dealing with a lot of wear and tear on the grass we had. Not having to worry about that is definitely a relief."

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Reach Cecil Joyce at cjoyce@dnj.com or 615-278-5168 and on Twitter @Cecil_Joyce.