Wesley Clover Field

Location

Ottawa, Ontario

Expertise

Landscape Architecture

Parks & Recreation

The Canadian Soccer Association (through JSA Sport as the Prime Consultant) retained Associated Engineering to provide civil engineering services for the design of an artificial turf practice field for the 2015 FIFA Women’s World Cup at Wesley Clover Park in Ottawa.

The event was the first major international soccer event staged entirely on artificial turf surfaces.

An innovative base design was used involving rigid foam insulation that eliminated frost heave concerns without excavating to frost depth and back filling with non-frost susceptible materials, as is typically done of colder climates. In order to meet the FIFA 2-star quality requirements for artificial turf surfaces, we used a base design employed in Gillette Stadium by the New England Patriots and in McMahon Stadium by the Calgary Stampeders.

Client

The Canadian Soccer Association

Project Highlights

Over the rigid foam, a standard based gravel was added and the field was paved with asphalt and crowned in a hip-gable pattern to ensure positive drainage to the field perimeter. Over the asphalt, a proprietary drainage and shock resistant layer was added. Unlike many similar systems, this product offered excellent drainage since it is mostly void space while still strong enough to support heavy equipment. The turf “carpet” and infill was then installed over this pad.