Coral Sea Park
Elevating council's sports landscape with a new synthetic turf soccer field
New South Wales

The development of the soccer field encountered various challenges.

Firstly, the existing fields are situated in a floodplain, necessitating the need to locate synthetic fields outside the 1 in 100-year flood design event. However, when moving to the field to the higher side of the area meant consider the proximity to trees. Moving the field to the higher side also cut off the overland flow path from the surrounding residential areas.

Additionally, an unexpected concrete block beneath half the field was encountered during construction, which posed a significant challenge as it couldn’t be retained under the field.

This led to the third challenge – the presence of contaminated water groundwater if we removed the concrete block.

Initial site investigations also unveiled an old damaged drainage pipe over a century old, running through the field.

To address the constraints attributed to the flooding, the field was shifted closer to the tree line to avoid the floodplain. The field was positioned just close enough to the tree line to allow enough space to redirect overland flow in natural turf swales around the field, while also retaining all trees.

For the concrete block, further investigation resulted in the material being easily crushed, we were able to crush the material and remove offsite, however, this led to a pool of contaminated groundwater. According to historical records – fertiliser over the past 40 years had been sitting on top of the concrete block, which had now leached down into the groundwater table. To remove this from the site would have been costly.

To resolve this, we then imported a drainage layer, which consisted of a large ballast. This allowed the groundwater to rise up and down within the profile with tidal changes, without affecting the stability of the profile.

Noting the need to retain a 5mm tolerance and the need to stop groundwater from leaching up into the profile. SPORTENG proposed the below pavement makeup:

• Large ballast drainage layer to 600mm above the groundwater level
• Layer of orange bitum A24 geofabric
• Triax TX160 geogrid
• Two layers of nondescript crushed rock
• Sandstone capping layer
• A geocomposite membrane
• Drainage gravel
• Synthetic turf

Regarding the old drainage pipe, it was replaced before building the synthetic field.

In summary, SPORTENG successfully navigated the challenges, providing efficient, tailor-made solutions for each obstacle. Their in-house capabilities and services demonstrated them as the right company for this project, delivering a high-quality outcome.

Since its handover in 2022, the field has functioned admirably, serving as the desired sports hub for the community.

The council expresses profound gratitude to SPORTENG for delivering a solution that kept within the council’s contingency, particularly regarding the unexpected challenge posed by the concrete block. Our swift resolution of issues is highly valued.

Ian Robinson, Club President of Maroubra United, said, “It's a fantastic facility, which means that we can play all year-round football, and all our kids get to play on a fantastic playing surface!"
Source: Coral Sea Park synthetic sports field video

Mayor Parker added that “this new facility provides an all-weather playing field for our local teams. The increased availability and reduced maintenance compared with a turf field will provide an estimated additional 2,000 hours of extra playtime each year. I’m very pleased that Council has delivered this important improvement for our local community – particularly given the growing interest in football and demand for field space inspired by our incredible Matildas national team.”

Source: New all-weather Maroubra football field a hit with aspiring Matildas and Socceroos