When it rains it drains. - Ultra Base Systems

When it rains it drains.The following photographs show the drainage capabilities of UltraBaseSystems TM panels. You will see fromthese photographs just how quickly water is removed from the surface of the turf and flows directly throughthe panels either into the earth through the permeable geotextile fabric or under the panels and over theimpermeable geotextile to the awaiting perimeter drainage systems. Often times it is a combination of thetwo, either way or system creates a scenario that allows play to continue promptly after a severe rain. In thisparticular set of photographs a record setting rainstorm occurred in the Tampa Bay area for close to fourhours, delivering over 6 inches or 152,4 mm of rain.This rain unfortunately occurred in the middle of our installation at Academy Prep Center causing a delay inseaming the turf but the crew took full advantage of a great opportunity to watch the water drain from theturf and the exposed panels. For close to four hours we witnessed the water dissipate rapidly through theturf and panels and flow into the earth or in the direction of the existing water collection system at theschool.The existing drainage ditch and retention pond were not adequate in size to remove the massive amountof water coming from all of the surrounding buildings, sidewalks and field, causing the collection areas tooverflow temporarily. However, fifteen minutes after the torrential rain stopped all evidence of water on thefield run off areas was gone and play could have easily continued.

All portions of the field that were slightlyhigher in elevation and had forcedwater to run towards this existing drainsystem remained dry throughout theentire rainstorm. Water flowed throughthe turf and panels, through thepermeable geotextile and into theexisting sub grade and/or rapidly movedunder the panels towards the retentionareas. This is exactly how the system is designed to work and proved itself spectacularly.This second set of photographs is of an installation that was completed as a test area over three and halfyears ago also showing the same results during another torrential Florida rainstorm. All areas around this lowlying test area became flooded but the UltraBaseSystems TM panel base installation remained high and dryas evident in the photograph with the individual walking through the turf during this torrential rain.Because this area surrounding the test plot was intentionally not graded perfectly we were able to showthat water evacuates rapidly through the turf and panels, into the ground or out towards the existinglandscape. The fact was the panels performed perfectly, but the existing ground was not prepared toreceive all of the water that was deposited evenly over the entire area creating a flood situationsurrounding the raised panel installation.Despite standing water around the test plot, the area we created remained free of standing water duringthe entire downpour. As with traditional stone methods of construction, proper water management mustbe taken into consideration to properly redirect any overflow water to a collection area or be confidentthe existing solid can adequately accept the rain fall.We would like to recount a quick story regarding the installation we did for the Tampa Bay Rays MajorLeague Baseball team at the Port Charlotte Florida spring training facility. Several days after the installationwe received a phone call from the head groundskeeper of the facility. The Tampa Bay area hadexperienced a large volume of rain over a continuous two day period which occurred at the very

eginning of spring training. When the phone call came in we were concerned that the voice on the otherend might have news about an installation problem at the field, after all why would we get a call afterhours from a MLB team unless it was bad news, right? It was explained to us that much of the Tampa BayRays team was angry with us due to the fact that our field was the only field out of all those at the facilitythat was playable! The players were ordered by the coaching staff to remain at the complex and the entiresquad practiced on the infield grass of our newly constructed UltraBaseSystems field as it was the only dryspot in the house. As you can imagine, a sense of relief and pride was felt by all of us here knowing that ourpanel system performed exactly the way it was engineered and allowed for the continuation of practicewhen it would have been necessary to cancel training had our system not been used.Drainage Flow DataComplete listing of drainage tests are available at www.UltraBaseSystems.com in PDF downloads, briefdescriptions of the results are as follows:Panels installed without turf will drain vertically through the panel at a rate of over 350 in / 8890 mm (!) perhour.Panels installed with a two and one quarter inch tall turf and filled with over 6 lbs/2,72 kg of sand andrubber will drain at a rate of over 175 in/4445 mm per hour.A sophisticated simulation model developed for UBS at the University of Tennessee’s EngineeringDepartment conclusively showed that when a 10,000 ft²/929 m 2 area of panels was installed on perfectlyflat terrain and installed on impermeable geotextile fabric, rain fall, calculated at a rate of 10 gallons per sqyard per hour/37.85 L per 0,84 sq meter per hour, ran through the turf and panels and vertically evacuatedfrom under the panels so rapidly that at the edge of this 10,000 ft²/929 m 2 test zone only 1/10 in / 2,54 mm ofwater was evident in some locations. The conclusion of Dr. Louie Elliott was that it is next to impossible tokeep water under the panels if proper perimeter drainage is designed. This test was performed onimpermeable fabric and would further be improved if a permeable fabric was chosen allowing apercentage of water to percolate into the ground making perimeter evacuation volumes less.Each UltraBaseSystems TM panel also has the capability of temporarily storing more than 3 1/2 gallons/13.25liters of water under each panel during this evacuation process. If ever needed this storage capacity willallow the water to be temporarily stored as the water is evacuating from under the panels and/orpercolating into the earth.The design of the panels also allows for water to be directed slightly more aggressively in one direction orthe other if it is so desired. This is achieved by the design pattern in the inner cells. Although this difference offlow rate is very minimal it can work to the engineer’s advantage if trying to force more water towards aparticular drain location or evacuation route. However a random design pattern of panel orientation willevacuate nearly as rapidly in all directions, but this design feature is one that may be useful for someinstallations but certainly not required.The practical experience acquired, coupled with the scientific testing data that has been performed,conclusively shows that our patented system is by far one of the finest drainage systems ever brought to thesynthetic turf market. Coupled with our ease of installation, superior underfoot structural feel and improvedplayability, squarely places UltraBaseSystems in a league of its own. These are the facts as generated by noless than five independent testing labs and available for you to review online atwww.ultrabasesystems.com.

Concentrate On Winning, Not The Weather.Non Turf ApplicationsPatented energy absorbingpanel design results in asolid structure underfootwith safer play surfaceswhile providing superiordrainage.UltraBaseSystems TM is asolid feeling structure withsuperior drainage andplayability.Permeable or impermeablegeotextile cloth directswater out from underpanels or allows water toflow into the ground whileimproving under footstabilization.Minimal preparation toexisting ground for manyinstallation scenarios.Abundant drain holes allowfor large volume verticalwater flow keeping syntheticturf play areas dry.TOP SIDEBOTTOM SIDESuper sized multi directionalhorizontal drain slotsevacuate water quickly fromunder the panels withoutclogging or flow restriction.Underside panel designcapable of temporarilystoring up to 3.56 gallons(13.48 liters) of water.Flow rates tested at 341.1 inches (8663,1 mm) perhour vertical and 96.4 inches (2448,6 mm) perhour horizontal flow. Use of a permeable geotextilewill also increase under panel water evacuation.

Concentrate On Winning, Not The Weather.Artificial Turf ApplicationsPatented energy absorbingpanel design results insafer play surfaces whiledecreasing turf heightand infill amounts savinginstallation time and money.UltraBaseSystems TM is asolid feeling structure withsuperior drainage andplayability.Permeable or impermeablegeotextile cloth directswater out from underpanels or allows water toflow into the ground whileimproving under footstabilization.Minimal preparation toexisting ground for manyinstallation scenarios.Abundant drain holes allowfor large volume verticalwater flow keeping syntheticturf play areas dry.TOP SIDEBOTTOM SIDESuper sized multi directionalhorizontal drain slotsevacuate water quickly fromunder the panels withoutclogging or flow restriction.Underside panel designcapable of temporarilystoring up to 3.56 gallons(13.48 liters) of water.Flow rates tested at 179 inches (4546,6 mm) perhour vertical and 96.4 inches (2448,6 mm) perhour horizontal flow. Use of a permeable geotextilewill also increase under panel water evacuation.