Coloured sports pitch for secondary school

An all weather multi use games area was required as part of a £25 million project to build a new three storey, 1,000 pupil school in Dumbarton in the west of Scotland. This games area would be used throughout the year for sports like football and hockey, so it needed to avoid standing water after rainfall. A conventional drainage system with gulleys and pipework, would have added significant time and complexity to the programme. The main contractor BAM Construction and West Dunbartonshire Council had already agreed a handover date in October so it was vital that the work was completed within the allotted time.

After discussions with the main contractor to understand the project requirements, Tarmac proposed ULTICOLOUR POROUS as a 6mm porous coloured asphalt and specialist porous binder course for the main playing surface along with 6mm porous black asphalt for the perimeter. Both asphalts could be laid using a conventional paving machine, which would allow the large area to be surfaced quickly. The clear polymer modified binder used in ULTICOLOUR POROUS provides bright colours, helping to complement the design of the new school. It is also highly durable, providing the long lasting, low maintenance surface that the client was looking for.

Work was completed on time, in line with the agreed schedule, with the main 1,806m² games area and 397m² perimeter installed over three days in late July 2017. Using a porous asphalt as part of a full infiltration pavement design avoided the need to install a conventional drainage system. As a coloured asphalt was used, there was no need to paint large areas of the surface, which helped to simplify the programme. The aggregate used in ULTICOLOUR POROUS is colour matched to the pigment providing a longer lasting finish. This gave the client confidence in the long term performance of the new product.