| Cover up. 09:42 - Mar 1 with 5999 views | bwildered |
Don’t want to be a killjoy, but better to put the covers on the pitch now, if we want game time tomorrow . |  |
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| Cover up. on 10:59 - Mar 4 with 1401 views | TheOldOakTree |
This is also worth a look. I’ve always thought that Rotherham’s new ground is beautiful, with no expense spared, whereas the Community Stadium paid for out of the public purse was obviously going to be cheap and cheerful (beggars can’t be choosers and all that). The capacities are not much different.
Take a look at the condition of the pitch they are ripping up!! Talk about taking the piss, what would we give for their old one?
https://www.themillers.co.uk/news/2023/may/read--work-begins-on-aesseal-new-york
Although artificial pitches are out of the question in the top 4 tiers, hybrid pitches are all the rage now. They somehow stitch in synthetic material into the rootzone to make the grass much more resilient.
They were also upgrading their irrigation system, and they’re going to use there main pitch for practice sessions when the training pitches are too wet, which all suggests that they have very good drainage at the New York!
Then there’s this from Vegan FC’s website;
“We’ve got an organic pitch that captures rainwater and recycles it back for irrigation, saving precious tap water. This year we’ve introduced an epic new process that cleans up the water from the away fans’ toilets and pumps that back onto the pitch as well”
So when to go to FGR, you can actually shit on the Rovers!
Great to see clubs investing in their future, whereas we’ve taken a different approach and spent £30M on…… (checks notes) 2 relegations and counting. [Post edited 4 Mar 11:13]
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| Cover up. on 12:11 - Mar 4 with 1348 views | RSCOSWORTH |
This is brilliant! |  |
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| Cover up. on 14:12 - Mar 4 with 1310 views | RSCOSWORTH |
For those that are interested the covers are currently off and zero work is occurring on the pitch. Pretty similar to some of our performances over the last few seasons. | |
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| Cover up. on 17:21 - Mar 4 with 1283 views | bwildered |
| Cover up. on 12:11 - Mar 4 by RSCOSWORTH |
This is brilliant! |
Just need couple horses . | |
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| Cover up. on 17:36 - Mar 4 with 1276 views | TheOldOakTree |
| Cover up. on 17:21 - Mar 4 by bwildered |
Just need couple horses . |
Desert Orchid wouldn’t be much use at the moment and we are not going to Sea the (Col U) Stars any time soon. | | | |
| Cover up. on 17:45 - Mar 4 with 1260 views | TheOldOakTree |
| Cover up. on 17:21 - Mar 4 by bwildered |
Just need couple horses . |
Knowing our luck we would get a red card for two bad foals. | | | |
| Cover up. on 17:49 - Mar 4 with 1257 views | durham_exile |
| Cover up. on 10:59 - Mar 4 by TheOldOakTree |
This is also worth a look. I’ve always thought that Rotherham’s new ground is beautiful, with no expense spared, whereas the Community Stadium paid for out of the public purse was obviously going to be cheap and cheerful (beggars can’t be choosers and all that). The capacities are not much different.
Take a look at the condition of the pitch they are ripping up!! Talk about taking the piss, what would we give for their old one?
https://www.themillers.co.uk/news/2023/may/read--work-begins-on-aesseal-new-york
Although artificial pitches are out of the question in the top 4 tiers, hybrid pitches are all the rage now. They somehow stitch in synthetic material into the rootzone to make the grass much more resilient.
They were also upgrading their irrigation system, and they’re going to use there main pitch for practice sessions when the training pitches are too wet, which all suggests that they have very good drainage at the New York!
Then there’s this from Vegan FC’s website;
“We’ve got an organic pitch that captures rainwater and recycles it back for irrigation, saving precious tap water. This year we’ve introduced an epic new process that cleans up the water from the away fans’ toilets and pumps that back onto the pitch as well”
So when to go to FGR, you can actually shit on the Rovers!
Great to see clubs investing in their future, whereas we’ve taken a different approach and spent £30M on…… (checks notes) 2 relegations and counting. [Post edited 4 Mar 11:13]
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I have been to Rotherham 12,000 capacity, Doncaster 15,000 capacity and Shrewsbury 10,000.
The new meadow was constructed by the same company as the JCS but I prefer our ground to theirs
Our pitch was never this bad before. Whether it is the lack of a quality groundsman or the inclement weather but this season has been the worst
A great shame because the club doesn't need this adverse publicity especially from some of our own supporters.
Up the U's |  |
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| Cover up. on 17:57 - Mar 4 with 1254 views | RSCOSWORTH |
| Cover up. on 17:49 - Mar 4 by durham_exile |
I have been to Rotherham 12,000 capacity, Doncaster 15,000 capacity and Shrewsbury 10,000.
The new meadow was constructed by the same company as the JCS but I prefer our ground to theirs
Our pitch was never this bad before. Whether it is the lack of a quality groundsman or the inclement weather but this season has been the worst
A great shame because the club doesn't need this adverse publicity especially from some of our own supporters.
Up the U's |
On Facebook I've seen a few posts suggesting the new Northern Gateway development could be to blame. Someone even said they filled in a soakaway as they didn't know what it was. I have no idea whether any of this is true or based on any factual evidence. | |
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| Cover up. on 18:59 - Mar 4 with 1239 views | durham_exile |
| Cover up. on 17:57 - Mar 4 by RSCOSWORTH |
On Facebook I've seen a few posts suggesting the new Northern Gateway development could be to blame. Someone even said they filled in a soakaway as they didn't know what it was. I have no idea whether any of this is true or based on any factual evidence. |
RS what is the development behind the East Stand and do you think that it has had an adverse effect on our drainage.
And if it is true that a soak away was filled in then that is absolutely criminal.
Perhaps there is some truth in these rumours. | |
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| Cover up. on 19:29 - Mar 4 with 1233 views | RSCOSWORTH |
| Cover up. on 18:59 - Mar 4 by durham_exile |
RS what is the development behind the East Stand and do you think that it has had an adverse effect on our drainage.
And if it is true that a soak away was filled in then that is absolutely criminal.
Perhaps there is some truth in these rumours. |
Directly behind the East Stand is the new multi-storey car park. I don't see why it would affect the drainage for the pitch but I'm no engineer or geologist. The pitch has seemed particularly poor this season though and it has coincided with them working on the new development. | |
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| Cover up. on 20:13 - Mar 4 with 1226 views | TheOldOakTree |
| Cover up. on 19:29 - Mar 4 by RSCOSWORTH |
Directly behind the East Stand is the new multi-storey car park. I don't see why it would affect the drainage for the pitch but I'm no engineer or geologist. The pitch has seemed particularly poor this season though and it has coincided with them working on the new development. |
Very unlikely to be a soakaway, due to ground conditions in that area.
From the original stadium planning permission:
https://d0cs.colchester.gov.uk/publisher/docs/8E9E233760D8299DB26C08CF5154F700/D
Conditions 19 & 20 suggest that the surface water from the stadium discharges to a ditch at the north-east of the site.
That’s not to say it was definitely built like that!
The planning conditions describe what is known as a surface water attenuation system, where you store the surface water run-off from large storms and then discharge it, at a restricted rate into the ditch. Thereby reducing the chances of flooding someone further downstream.
The restriction to ‘Greenfield’ run-off rate of 2.48 litres/second is significant, so there would be a lot of water to store somewhere.
It might be that some of the storage has been accidently filled in, or the ditch that it discharges to has been affected.
Although the planning describes storing the water in oversized pipes, it could have been that an open basin was also added for more storage. Maybe when the original hoggin car park was surfaced and drained at a later date?
It might be that people are incorrectly referring to a swale or open storage basin as a soakaway.
PS I don't think the link will work, but if you co on the Colchester Council Planning website and search for application 071539 and look at the Approved 23.11.07 decision notice it will hopefully make sense. [Post edited 4 Mar 20:30]
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| Cover up. on 07:41 - Mar 5 with 1190 views | noah4x4 |
The could be some impacts from nearby development if poorly planned. When Billericay Football Club made various changes, the unforeseen impact on the adjacent Billericay Cricket Club meant a regularly waterlogged cricket square as water unexpectedly poured down the slope in its direction. For a couple of seasons the number of playing days lost by the Essex Second XI on otherwise sunny days were frustrating. Conditions had changed and previously adequate drainage struggled to cope until alternative remedies were found.
Hybrid pitch technologies might make the surface more resilient to wear, but the issue here must be a combination of (a) too much water getting on the pitch and (b), consequent inadequate drainage. My wider experience within cricket suggests cack-handed manipulation of flat covers by too few inexperienced persons can also be the difference between playing or not. It is staggering how much water accumulates on flat covers and if that runs off the edges onto a narrow strip it can make that area worse than had the pitches been uncovered. I am suspicious that at the Jobserve Stadium the worst areas are typically around the pitch perimeter. So how is water seeping back underneath or otherwise accumulating there? The covers appear to do an adequate job in the centre of the pitch, so is it the run-off that is problematic?
Essex CCC at the Chelmsford Cloud ground staff drive a “Super Sopper” over the flat covers to first remove the full accumulation of surface water before removing flat covers. At Castle Park we have a (manual) push version that removes a staggering amount of surface water from the top of covers before we dare lift them but that is incredibly labour intensive. I know it has occasionally borrowed Essex CCC’s machine, but has Colchester United invested in a “Super Sopper,” of its own? Pitch covers are perfectly adequate elsewhere, so there has to be an explanation. Where does the 120M x 60M layer of water on top of the covers drain? |  | | |
| Cover up. on 08:16 - Mar 5 with 1179 views | durham_exile |
| Cover up. on 19:29 - Mar 4 by RSCOSWORTH |
Directly behind the East Stand is the new multi-storey car park. I don't see why it would affect the drainage for the pitch but I'm no engineer or geologist. The pitch has seemed particularly poor this season though and it has coincided with them working on the new development. |
Thanks RS for the update | |
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| Cover up. on 11:50 - Mar 10 with 1033 views | bwildered |
Another day downpour this Sunday, so get the covers on yet again. | |
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| Cover up. on 09:51 - Mar 11 with 968 views | RSCOSWORTH |
Very wet day yesterday. Not much rain forecast for today but not really a drying day either. More rain forecast for tomorrow. It feels like the covers might be doing more harm than good so are maybe best left off. In similar related news I noticed two water holding areas appeared on the new development last week, I hadn't spotted them previously so not sure if they've just been dug or not. | |
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| Cover up. on 11:10 - Mar 11 with 957 views | TheOldOakTree |
| Cover up. on 09:51 - Mar 11 by RSCOSWORTH |
Very wet day yesterday. Not much rain forecast for today but not really a drying day either. More rain forecast for tomorrow. It feels like the covers might be doing more harm than good so are maybe best left off. In similar related news I noticed two water holding areas appeared on the new development last week, I hadn't spotted them previously so not sure if they've just been dug or not. |
RS if you want to see how the drainage of the adjacent land will work, the details are in the public domain.
I don’t think a link will work?
https://d0cs.colchester.gov.uk/Publisher/mvc/listDocuments?identifier=DC&ref
But if you Google 'Colchester Planning' hit Search Planning applications and enter reference 221813
Hit on the application that appears at the bottom of the screen and view documents, you will see very detailed information of the proposed drainage of the adjacent site.
The drawings at the back of ‘Background Papers Doc Part 1’ in particular have details of the drainage showing various storage basins. The site drains by a mixture of soakaways and storage basins that dribble water into the ditch. (I’m slightly surprised at the soakaways as original investigations for the overall development in that area concluded that the ground wasn’t suitable for drainage by infiltration, newer more detailed investigations conclude that it is suitable in some areas).
These storage basins are for the new development, not the previously developed adjacent plot. I don't know if this is the latest scheme they are building, but it will give you a good idea of what is likely to happen.
This level of information is normal nowadays for a planning application of this size, whereas back in 2007 the implementation of Sustainable Drainage Systems (SuDS) was in its infancy.
I have no idea whatsoever of any issues relating to our ‘interests’, but I do know a bit about drainage.
In general terms, totally unrelated to the Stadium, it is possible to imagine that a development on higher ground could have some issues with its drainage which result in storm water spilling over into adjacent lower land. If the lower land is undeveloped, that could carry on for years without any issues. If the adjacent lower land is developed at some later date and the topography is changed so that neighbours water can no longer cross the boundary, then obviously there could be problems.
Again, in general, laws dating back hundreds of years mean that people on lower land have a responsibility to accept natural surface water run-off (or greenfield run-off) from higher land. They do not necessarily have to accept un-natural run-off from roofs, roads, car parks etc. Obviously in some instances, there could be agreements in place that would take precedence over common law.
Again, I repeat, I have no idea at all of the nature of any problems (if indeed there are any problems) in the area in question. I am simply illustrating the type of problem that can occur in the world of drainage.
As all good drainage engineers will tell you; “It may be sewage to you squire, but it’s bread and butter to me” [Post edited 11 Mar 11:19]
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| Cover up. on 11:18 - Mar 11 with 953 views | bwildered |
Storage basin, is this just hard standing that captures water ? | |
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| Cover up. on 11:41 - Mar 11 with 946 views | TheOldOakTree |
| Cover up. on 11:18 - Mar 11 by bwildered |
Storage basin, is this just hard standing that captures water ? |
In very simple terms, with modern 'SuDS' systems, if the water will not soak into the ground, the next best thing is to store the water and 'dribble' it out into a ditch at greenfield run-off rate, thereby anyone downstream does not have an artificially high rate of water to deal with.
That water can be stored in many ways, an undeground tank, underground plastic boxes that look like milk crates, oversized pipes, or it can be stored above ground in just an open earth basin or stored above normal waterlevel in a pond.
There is no normal reason for having a storage basin as hardstanding, just earth will normally do fine, but if topography will allow you can have controlled shallow flooding of car parks in extreme rainfall.
In fact it is better to have it as topsoil and grass, because the second aspect of SuDS design is cleaning run-off before discharging it to a watercourse. An earth basin will collect silts and the oils will stick to vegetation and break down. (I bet you're glad you asked)
https://www.essexdesignguide.co.uk/suds/rates-and-storage/attenuation-storage/
If this is a subject that interests you, I can recommend CIRIA Report 753 'The SuDS Manual' about 1000 pages long and it will twist the mellon of most engineers. This has been a very useful document that has made life so complicated, that civil engineers can charge more and eventually retire early to the sun.
Next week on engineering made simple, don't forget your Quantum Physics textbooks as TOOT explains how you can achieve Nuclear Fusion in your garage. [Post edited 11 Mar 11:51]
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| Cover up. on 14:35 - Mar 11 with 907 views | RSCOSWORTH |
Pitch is currently uncovered with two people poking it with a fork and looking at it. You can't see a great deal through the hole in the gates but it does appear pretty damp around the edges. | |
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| Cover up. on 18:28 - Mar 11 with 886 views | mfb_cufc |
With a lot more rain forecast for tomorrow, Doncaster game has to be in doubt. |  |
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| Cover up. on 00:04 - Mar 12 with 762 views | durham_exile |
It's all very well but further postponements are only going to add to the pressure on the team.
Whatever happens the pitch condition must be sorted out.
Grim times indeed. | |
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| Cover up. on 09:08 - Mar 12 with 702 views | burnsieespana |
With the amount of rain which has already fallen in Essex and what the BBC are forecasting for the next two weeks the cricket season starting in April will have a soggy start as well.
Grim. |  | | |
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