Fielding the NEW Swamp

[MissingMandy]

_ MM, I hope you're not getting too much of that "spring" snow! Or have you made the move to Tejas already? Since I'll be heading up that way in less than 3 weeks, I've been watching the weather reports! _

HMMMM hate to tell you this BUT last weekend it snowed ALL weekend. Stew and I ran out and mowed between flakes!! It was nice the weekend before. This week is FREEZING and the usual daily rain. Sooooo keep checking but I would suggest a short sleeve shirt, a sweatshirt, a winter coat, long pants and perhaps some shorts. That is Oregon weather!!!! Stew is in Houston (I am very jealous) and I am here waiting for the house to sell. Could be a LOOOOONG wait. Sure hope to be in Houston by summer or at the very least football season. It is so neat to watch the field change, those little buggers are workin hard!!

[RaginFan2]

HMMMM hate to tell you this BUT last weekend it snowed ALL weekend. Stew and I ran out and mowed between flakes!! It was nice the weekend before. This week is FREEZING and the usual daily rain. Sooooo keep checking but I would suggest a short sleeve shirt, a sweatshirt, a winter coat, long pants and perhaps some shorts. That is Oregon weather!!!! Stew is in Houston (I am very jealous) and I am here waiting for the house to sell. Could be a LOOOOONG wait. Sure hope to be in Houston by summer or at the very least football season. It is so neat to watch the field change, those little buggers are workin hard!!

Yes, I've been checking that weather out. ODOT has a nice website with remote cameras and weather info stations at selected sites along major roads. I saw one in the mountains the other night with a temperature of 20 degrees! Our first day we are driving from the Portland airport down I-5 to Grants Pass, then on the Crescent City, CA.

"Sure hope to be in Houston by summer ..." Man, I NEVER thought I'd see someone say THAT! Ha!

[MissingMandy]

_ Yes, I've been checking that weather out. ODOT has a nice website with remote cameras and weather info stations at selected sites along major roads. I saw one in the mountains the other night with a temperature of 20 degrees! Our first day we are driving from the Portland airport down I-5 to Grants Pass, then on the Crescent City, CA.

"Sure hope to be in Houston by summer ..." Man, I NEVER thought I'd see someone say THAT! Ha! _

Well you will drive by right where we live and my other son lives in Medford, Oregon...next to Grants Pass. You will drive through 2 mountain passes, both are very dangerous if it is snowing and you are required to carry chains to fit your car tires if the weather is bad so keep an eye on that. It is a very large ticket if you don't have them and you can just return them if you don't use them. (Walmart) Hopefully by the time you come, winter will have left us. Quite often when I fly home from Louisiana they fly directly over Mt. Hood...it's really beautiful and you can see it right after you leave the airport. You will head north on 205, then hit north I-5 towards Salem. You can see the mountain off of 205. Hope you enjoy your trip. It is a beautiful part of the country. Just to cold for me!!! Also if you are interested you pass through Eugene (The University of Oregon) the stadium there is really neat as are the facilities thanks to Nike. Well I want to be in Houston for 3 reasons, my hubby works there now, we can see KP's games and I miss the south. (He's all ready filled me in on the traffic)

[HelmutVII]

Looks like July 16th is the deadline and not football season.

http://www.dci.org/schedule/?week=Week4

[levetsj]

Football fields getting tougher
Hardy artificial turf coming to 2 schools
Saturday, April 26, 2008
By Sandra Barbier

Football players will find green fields that never need mowing this fall when they return to the stadiums at Destrehan and Hahnville high schools.

Workers have started installing artificial turf at Hahnville and brought in equipment Friday to begin work at Destrehan. The school district will pay Mid-America Golf and Landscape Inc. of Lee's Summit, Mo., $2,953,577 for the new fields.

Concerns have been raised about the lead content in some artificial turfs. The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission began an investigation after two New Jersey high school fields were closed last week because of lead. Another field has been closed in New York.

Jeff Porter, the project manager for Mid-America, said the company will use Fieldturf brand synthetic turf, which contains no lead.

"Fieldturf has informed me their turf does not and never has had lead," Porter said Friday. Mid-America is doing the drainage and foundation work for the project, and Fieldturf is installing the field.

Both fields are scheduled to be completed in August, with the Hahnville field finished in time for the 2008 season football jamboree, said Willie Wise, physical plant services coordinator for the St. Charles Parish school district.

St. Charles School Board member Stephen Crovetto said the turf will make the fields more useful. Unlike grass, the turf won't be damaged by heavy use or need protection after a heavy rain, he said.

"Inclement weather doesn't prevent you from using it. Your P.E. classes, your soccer program," the band and others can use it as well as all levels of football teams, Crovetto said.

Wise said the turf will not provide a cost savings for eight to 10 years, the expected lifetime of the turf, Wise said. "When it wears out, you peel it back and put a new one," but because the drainage will already be in place, the replacement cost will be a lot less.

Wise said that is when the project should provide a savings.

"There's no doubt" the turf is expensive, Crovetto said, but he said board members opted to go with a better product so that it would hold up.

The surface might be slick at first, but it will improve with wear, and its extra cushioning is easier on athletes' legs than natural turf, Crovetto said.

Hebert designed the Hahnville field, and engineer Ray Davezac designed the field at Destrehan, Wise said.

"Believe, me, we're excited about this project," Wise said.

. . . . . . .

Sandra Barbier can be reached at sbarbier@timespicayune.com or (985) 652-0958.

[NOCajun]

_ Looks like July 16th is the deadline and not football season.

http://www.dci.org/schedule/?week=Week4 _

I was thinking about that, too. PLEEEEEEEEEASE LET THEM HAVE IT FINISHED FOR THAT EVENT!!!

[J-Town Cajun]

The picture has not changed in over 3 days. Is there a hold up, camera frozen, rain delay, taking a long weekend, or what?

[Turner]

_ The picture has not changed in over 3 days. Is there a hold up, camera frozen, rain delay, taking a long weekend, or what? _

That poor guy in the bleachers must be ready to go home.

[HelmutVII]

The picture has not changed in over 3 days. Is there a hold up, camera frozen, rain delay, taking a long weekend, or what?

Since the crew is probably from out of town I suspect they used the rain Thursday as an opportunity to go home to be with their families. I would suspect that if we don't get too much rain today (Sunday) they will be back at work tomorrow. If they try to work with the mud they will make ruts that hold water and it will take forever to dry. If you noticed they started to grade the field working from the low side to the high side so that as they worked the water would drain AWAY from their work.

This is the most important phase of the work. Any mistake at this phase will reflect up to the surface. Any problem with drainage could cause the turf to fail or have an inconsistent footing.

[rhineaux]

Back to work.

[HelmutVII]

Back to work.

It looks like they are pretty close to final dirt grade on the press box side of the field.

[ulforlife]

It looks like they are pretty close to final dirt grade on the press box side of the field.

Ya man! They are doing good work it's bout time they get back at it