新加坡国家体育场.docVIP

SINGAPORE — The National Stadium, which is due to open next month, will boast a playing field that Sports Hub officials say is durable and cost-effective, and designed to minimise the risk of events being rescheduled or cancelled. The 55,000-seat centrepiece of the S$1.33 billion Sports Hub will be the first stadium in Asia to be turfed with the Desso GrassMaster, a reinforced grass that is estimated to cost about €500,000 S$858,000 to install. Specialised machines will inject a natural grass pitch with artificial fibres 18cm into the sand and at 2cm intervals — or about 114 million protective fibres in all. This allows the grass — a blend of rye and blue grass selected from 20 types after 15 months of tests — to anchor its roots around the fibres for added strength. The regeneration process starts after just three days, with full recovery after two weeks, compared with conventional natural grass, which requires about four weeks. Coupled with the pitch’s drainage system, which works at 600ml per hour, it means the possibility of events being rescheduled or cancelled due to the poor surface is greatly minimised. SportsHub’s senior director stadia Greg Gillin said the grass system will provide significant long-term savings for the sports complex, as the Desso GrassMaster’s maintenance costs are one-quarter that of lay-and-play natural grass surfaces. “With this surface, we don’t change it. Even if we lose the grass, we can still play a game on it. You are already in front by about S$1.5 million to S$2 million per year just in operating costs,” he said. “We’re talking about S$400,000 to S$500,000 to replace a lay-and-play surface. And with the event calendar we’ve got, a lay-and-play surface would probably last a month, maybe two. So that means about eight surfaces a year depending on the number and type of events, and the costs quickly start to mount.” Desso, a Belgian firm specialising in fields for sports including football, hockey, rugby and tennis, says th