JC Donath Reserve
Netball and tennis courts redevelopment
Victoria

Like many sites to the north of Melbourne, the subgrade consisted of highly reactive clays. To ensure the longevity of the pavement and its ability to maintain the tight construction tolerances the pavement design had to address the reactive nature of the subgrade material.

The location for the proposed courts didn’t have any formal drainage infrastructure. The adjacent oval was grading away from the site with its drainage infrastructure located on the other side of the oval and the adjacent tennis courts were en-tout-cas court which relied on infiltration with limited formalise drainage infrastructure.

During construction works for the courts it was identified that the during a rain event the run-off from the adjacent en-tout-cas courts did infiltrate into the porous pavement and then bled through into the subgrade where the proposed hard courts were to be constructed.

To ensure the pavement met the intended design life and the surface tolerances would be maintained a deep capping layer was included in the pavement design.

Due to the lack of formalised drainage readily available for the hard-courts, swale drains were used to direct the run-off from the hard courts to the downstream drainage infrastructure around the adjacent oval.

To intercept the infiltrated run-off from the permeable en-tout-cas, a slotted subsoil pipe was installed at the interface to prevent water entering into the reactive subgrade layer.

The dual sport facility has addressed the shortcomings of netball courts in the area, and improved the tennis offering for the club. The inclusion of a small toilet/changeroom facility has enabled netball use to occur without the need to access the tennis club's facilities.

Subsequently the completed facility has been heavily utilised by the local community for both sports.