Engineering and track performance go hand in hand. The quality of your surface determines foot restitution and the opportunities for performance training. The surface also plays a role in the level of training and competition, from community facilities through to elite venues. Whether you’re watching from the grandstand or grass mound, or you’re tuning in from home anywhere in Australia, field surface quality is a noticeable feature of an athletics track.
World Athletics categorises athletic track surface options as either permeable or non-permeable.
Within these categories, the systems fall into three general areas, which include:
Natural turf and unbound granular surfaces were commonly used up until the 1960s, when the rubberised systems entered the market. While both are compliant with World Athletics requirements, the increased maintenance and non-uniform performance has made them less favourable for new facilities, which are adopting rubber-type surfacing.
It’s imperative that you choose the correct surface that meets the needs of your facility. For example, an elite venue will require a rubber surface, while a primary school running track may be better with a synthetic grass system.
From planning to design, construction to maintenance, sports surfaces are at the backbone of athlete.
Our surface knowledge covers a range of sports and their associated Fields of Play, from local- and regional-level facilities, to elite national and international stadiums.
Here at SPORTENG, we provide the kind of expert understanding that can help determine which athletics track surface is best suited for your facility, based on the intended level of competition and World Athletics requirements.
From community facilities through to national and Olympic venues, our team is best placed to help ensure the correct surface for your usage requirements.
Choose the ideal athletics track surface.
When you’re considering a surface for your facility, ongoing maintenance and its whole-of-life cycle should be a priority.
When a surface is properly maintained and correctly used, your facility will have an optimal lifespan.
The primary requirement to effectively maintain an athletics track is to remove debris and silt from the surface. This helps prevent it from impregnating the void spaces in the product and/or algae growth.
The life cycle of most athletics track surfaces is as follows:
1. Initial install
2. Repair to high-wear areas
3. Resurface
4. Full system replacement
Unfortunately, at the end of the athletics track's surface life, there is no standardised process to recycle the old system, and it ends up in landfill. So it is important to select the appropriate system to cater for the level of use and undertake the required level of maintenance to achieve the maximum life cycle.
