Transportation sand leakage and turf performance of sand-based removable modular turf as affected by the combined action of coir fiber and polyacrylamide

Abstract

Removable modular turf with a sand-based rootzone is a solution for high-end stadiums which can organize various events on the turf. However, the low stability of sand leads to serious sand leakage during the transportation of modular turf, which reduces the evenness and safety of the turf. Previous studies have shown that adding coir fibers (CF) and polyacrylamide (PAM) will improve soil stability. In this study, we evaluated the combined effects of CF and different amounts of PAM on soil properties, turfgrass growth, shear strength, and sand leakage during simulated transport vibrations in a sand-based modular turf planted with tall fescue (Festuca elata Keng ex E. Alexeev). Each treatment comprised a mixture of 0.4% (weight material/weight soil) CF and six concentrations of PAM (0%, 0.025%, 0.050%, 0.075%, 0.100%, 0.125%, w/w) in the sand-based rootzone, with no addition of CF or PAM as the control. The results show that, in the sand-based rootzone, CF could improve tall fescue growth, shear strength, and resistance to sand leakage owing to transport vibration due to the physical properties of the coir fiber. However, the combined effect of CF and 0.100% PAM was better for tall fescue growth, shear strength, and resistance to sand leakage. However, owing to the lubricating effect of PAM, adding a low (≤0.025%) or a high rate (≥0.125%) amount of PAM would reduce the effect of CF and PAM. Therefore, the combined effect of CF + 0.100% PAM in this study had the best effect on the turf module and can be used as an application scheme for the removable modular turf.