Turfgrass reinforcement

[Andrew Garulay, RLA]

Has anyone first hand experience using turf reinforcement fiber in soils to allow for turf to be driven over on a regular basis such as Stalok?

 

I have an odd circumstance where a client wants to run a  40′ section of a residential driveway across a a buffer that needs to be green (turf, trees, shrubs, …). A board does not want to allow him to have pavement or gravel across the buffer, but it seems that they can not forbid him to drive across it. My plan is to layout the driveway and have cobble edgings along the sides, a three foot cobble apron at each end of the “green” section with reinforced turf acting as the pavement. There is likely to be as much as 6-8 passes over it each day.

 

I’ve seen poorly performing Grasspave2 (possibly have seen great performing Grasspave2, but did not know it) and was told by a very prominent turf expert that fiber soil stabilizers were superior to the structural geotextiles. He gave me a brand name out of Rhode Island that he said he’d used, but I neither remember the name nor can I find it on the net (believe it began with “N”).

 

Anyone have experience or observation of a good performance?

[Mike Mitchell]

I don’t have an observation personally for this company, but their demos at the office were very solid.

http://www.rehbeinsolutions.com/
Look at this particular product: Netlon Advanced Turf System (ATS)

Good Luck.

[Bob Luther]

While in college at Oregon State , our experimental turf farm was one of the first to use rubber crumb mulch at a top dressing on turf. One of the uses that have since bee used with the research that was done has been as a top dressing at the end of cartpaths on golf courses where the cart path transitions to turf ( a high impact area). The ground tire rubber crumb protects the crown of the turf and allows for truck and cart traffic over the area while minimizing the impact on the turf.

[Andrew Garulay, RLA]

Mike, that is very similar to the material that I was looking at a few years ago. I’d like to try it or something similar, but I don’t want to rely on the manufacturer to tell me how it performs (especially after seeing some disasters from other products that still look great on the manufacturers web sites).

Bob,
That sounds interesting, but I’m looking to basically make a 40′ section of driveway out of turf grass. I know they use rubber crumbs on the new artificial turf they put in Gillette Stadium – actually it was the turf manager of Gillette (who quit when they would not let him maintain the turf at 100%) who recommended the product that I’m looking to find out about.

[Jeffrey Trojanowski,]

I have seen these and specified them a couple times. NDS has a product that is like the Netlon ATS, but uses a honeycomb pattern that can be completely buried under turf, gravel, decomposed granite, mulch, etc. I have seen it under turf and mulch and it works great. They have a product that is fire engine rated so the fire companies are happy with it too. One of the concrete pavestone companies by my firm makes a concrete one that you add turf plugs to. it is not a carpet of turf completely, but it adds its own textural feel and design aesthetic if that is what you are looking for.

The websites are:

http://www.olsenpavingstone.com/Designers_turfstone.html

http://www.ndspro.com/images/stories/pdfs/general/brochures/permeable-pavers-brochure.pdf

[alex maddox]

We have used the following for fire lanes http://www.permatill.com/turf-firelanes.php. It allows the turf to grow without compaction and avoids the problem associated with vehicular use of actually seeing the structure that is holding the turf in place. Of course none are all that good for every day driving.

[Steve Mercer]

Hi Andrew,

If you look on Stalok’s website, I did not see one installation of their product with grass on it. That ought to tell you something. I have samples here from Grassy Pavers : http://www.grassypavers.com/ Anyway the paver consist of plastic hexagon cells that have a hole in the bottom of each cell. After the pavers are installed grass is sown in the cells. The top lip of each cell actually sticks up slightly higher than the soil in each cell so when the vehicle drives on it. The weigh of the vehicle is supported by the paver not the soil in the cells. There is enough surface area on the bottom of the paver to support the weight of the vehicle while still providing drainage and access for the roots to root into the ground underneath the paver. The crowns of the grass are never driven on. Golf courses use them all the time. The sample I have even has 3″ plastic white dots that can be inserted into the tops of the cells to mark off parking spaces.

s.

s.

[Steve Mercer]

Hi Andrew,

Would you be referring to Netpave? http://www.rehbeinsolutions.com/technology/Netpave50/netpave50.html?gclid=CIqAreHHy6UCFQta7AodOi3wmQ

I noticed that they made a disclaimer on their web-site: “For occasional car or light truck parking:
**Not recommended for year round use in northern climates, winter driving will kill grass.
**Consult turf specialists on appropriate seasonal grasses for southern climates.”

So there may be issues with all of these paver systems in winter.

s.

[Author]

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