Wednesday, August 20, 2003

By Dan Gigler, Post-Gazette Staff Writer

It looks like grass. In a dead sprint in cleats, it has the consistency of grass underfoot. Even after a slide from a diving catch it feels smooth, like a well-groomed grass field should.

But, minus three important M's -- maintenance, mowing, and mud -- it definitely is not grass. It's a synthetic surface called A-Turf, and its installation at Moon High School Stadium should wrap up today or tomorrow, completing a roughly $600,000 track and field resurfacing project that started earlier this summer, district athletic director Bill Moore said.

Produced by Williamsville, N.Y.-based Surface America, A-Turf is a polyethylene (rubbery) fiber that is woven into thousands of 2-inch strands per square yard, which give it the look and feel of a thick, lush, natural grass field, but without the headaches and expense of constant upkeep.

The A-Turf is inlaid with a fine mixture of ground-up bits of rubber and special sand from a Texas quarry that has round granules, which adds to the cushion and traction of the field.

Though installation carries a hefty price tag -- the cost of the Moon project falls in the average range of $500,000-$700,000 -- it is cost effective. Moore estimated that annual maintenance to the old grass field was about $45,000 for topsoil, grass seed, water and fertilizer.

Unlike natural grass, A-Turf will not be damaged from the notoriously rainy Western Pennsylvania weather. Ultraviolet rays from the sun are the only thing that deteriorates the tips of the A-Turf, which should last about 10 years before it needs to be replaced

It is designed for constant use, and between youth league football, middle school soccer and varsity football and soccer games, the field will practically have a revolving door of teams playing on it.

"It's a scheduling nightmare, but one that we're happy to do. That's what we're in the business for," Moore said.

Synthetic grass is less expensive than artificial turf, which on average costs about $1 million, and also does not carry the stigma of artificial turf, which is widely perceived to be a source of serious joint and ligament injuries, though evidence to that effect is inconclusive.

Professional and collegiate athletic programs have steadily made a transition from natural grass and artificial turf surfaces to synthetic grass for several years, and now high schools are doing the same.

"No one installs artificial turf anymore," Moore said.

Moon is one of six WPIAL schools installing synthetic grass surfaces at fields this year; the others are Ambridge, Beaver, Gateway, McKeesport and Mt. Lebanon. Fifteen other WPIAL schools already have similar surfaces installed, and Hersheypark Stadium in Hershey, which hosts the PIAA Football and Boys' and Girls' Soccer Championships, also had an A-Turf surface installed this year.

The new field was initially expected to crack the Moon Athletics starting lineup this Friday in a home football scrimmage against Center, but the project end date had to be pushed back because rainstorms throughout much of July and August slowed progress.

The football scrimmage has been moved to Center; likewise a boys' soccer home scrimmage Tuesday against Fox Chapel has been moved to Fox Chapel, and a girls' soccer home scrimmage against Schenley on Saturday will be played on a Moon practice field. The A-Turf will make its formal debut under the "Friday Night Lights" at the football home opener Aug. 29 against visiting Hampton.

The final part of the project, the new track surface, will be done by Precision Sports Surfaces Inc., a Charlottesville, Va.-based outfit, which specializes in shock absorbent rubber surfaces.

Joggers and walkers who frequent the track should be happy to know that it will reopen for public use early next month, Moore said.

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