Fireworks Work

Each year the grounds crew spends the week prior to the Independence Day Spectacular setting up for the show.  This year we reduced our future work load by installing pieces of drain tile in the ground next to the bank of the irrigation reservoir.  The drain tile pieces hold the fireworks mortar tubes which in turn hold the mortars.  On the day of the event, fireworks mortars are dropped into the mortar tubes, wired and then fired.  Afterwards, the tubes are cleaned of debris, covered and then sit until next year.  This area will be seeded with a native mix and it will melt into the surrounding landscape.

                

 

Winter Root Pruning

When tree roots compete with turf tree roots win almost all of the time.  This is especially true when a green is being invaded by roots.  The west side of the putting green and the back of 15 green have been suffering from these invaders over the last couple of years.  So, this winter we installed plastic root barrier panels in both areas.

The panels lock together in a tongue-and-groove fashion creating a continuous barrier.

The picture below shows the putting green ready for the installation of 3 ft tall panels.  

15 grn had very deep roots from the trees between it and Lakeside Rd.  So, there we installed 4 ft tall panels.  

More Irrigation Reservoir Work

Late last fall one of our irrigation pumps was not performing as it should.  The decision was made to repair the pump and the pump was then removed after the new year.

Soon after removing the pump it was realized that leaves being sucked into the pump was the major cause of our pump issues.  The screen at the base of the pump had deteriorated to the point it was letting leaves enter the pump turbines.  The leaves ultimately caused damage to the pump which required repair.

To eliminate the risk of future leaf issues we began investigating potential entry points of leaves into the pumphouse wet-well.  This lead us to emptying the reservoir so we could see the inlet pipe to the wet well.  To our surprise we found holes in our metal inlet pipe, which holds our self cleaning strainer.  The holes were on the bottom portion of the pipe and is probably why we didn't see them last fall when we worked on the strainer.

The short term fix was to use a "tar-like" paste and metal mesh to cover the holes.

The long term fix will most likely come in the form of Cured in Place Pipe.  We will collect quotes on this project and plan to have it done within the next 4-6 years.