“It has no impact on the main playing field. It’s on the edge of the track. It’s a long ways from the playing surface.”
— Kevin Cunningham
Patterson Unified School District operations and
facilities coordinator
A ruptured irrigation pipe that caused major flooding near the south end of Patterson Community Stadium Wednesday morning didn’t significantly damage the newly installed FieldTurf.
But it sure made for an interesting turn of events on an already turbulent day at Patterson High School.
Kevin Cunningham, coordinator of operations and facilities for Patterson Unified School District, said district grounds personnel discovered the ruptured pipe at about 7:10 a.m. Wednesday.
The irrigation pipe ruptured next to the track, Cunningham said. Once the pipe burst, water inundated a stretch of the track and deposited silt across the track and onto the field, he said.
“The main damage was with moisture that got under the track,” Cunningham said. “It heaved a section of the track asphalt, which is the base for the track. More of that silt filtered out to the edge of the playing surface.”
The new artificial turf featured a drainage system, which took care of much of the water, but the flooding left sandy residue on a small portion of the football field.
Cozart Brothers Inc., the construction company that worked on the football field before its plastic foam base and artificial surface were installed, was already on the scene Thursday. The company worked to remove silt from the field and remove the damaged asphalt.
The track was scheduled to be resurfaced with synthetic material in November. Cunningham did not indicate specifically if that projected date was still intact.
A section of the track has already been removed, and Cunningham said the school district was evaluating ways to resurface the track in a timely manner.
In the meantime, Cunningham said the irrigation system has since been repaired.
“With the situation, it was imperative that we made the repairs to the irrigation system,” he said. “We did that right away.”
A call has been placed into the artificial turf company, FieldTurf, to solicit input on ways to repair the area of the field where silt and sand were deposited.
“There was a little bit of (sand) settling in the area,” Cunningham said. “We have placed a call to FieldTurf. They’ll come out and take a look at it, inspect it, and give us any kind of recommendations if we need to do any mitigation. It should be OK.”
Fortunately for soccer and football players, Patterson High will not have to reschedule or alter its use of the field.
“It has no impact on the main playing field,” Cunningham said. “It’s on the edge of the track. It’s a long ways from the playing surface.”
To reach Mike Vanden Bosch at the Irrigator, call 892-6187 or e-mail him at
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