3-in-1: Needle tine - Pitchcare
3-in-1: Needle tine - Pitchcare
3-in-1: Needle tine - Pitchcare
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Bono has left<br />
the stadium!<br />
Carrow Road fill<strong>in</strong>g up<br />
ditto the City of Manchester Stadium<br />
Build<strong>in</strong>g the stage at the<br />
City of Manchester Stadium<br />
Carrow Road ready for<br />
the punters<br />
The Rola-Trac<br />
guide to surviv<strong>in</strong>g<br />
a visit by U2, Bon<br />
Jovi, Sir Elton,<br />
Oasis and<br />
numerous others!<br />
SUMMER 2005 has proved<br />
challeng<strong>in</strong>g to say the least. In<br />
the last few years Rola-Trac has<br />
averaged between 8 and 10 full<br />
pitch covers for concerts and<br />
associated events s<strong>in</strong>ce start<strong>in</strong>g<br />
rental operations <strong>in</strong> 2001.<br />
The problems are similar and<br />
concerns are always the same.<br />
How do you protect a sensitive<br />
surface where sport is the core<br />
bus<strong>in</strong>ess? Then someone wants<br />
to build a 400 tonne stage on<br />
your 18 yard l<strong>in</strong>e that is go<strong>in</strong>g to<br />
need three 80 tonne cranes<br />
work<strong>in</strong>g on the grass to get it<br />
built! Okay, this may be an<br />
extreme but it can happen, and<br />
did, at the City of Manchester<br />
Stadium <strong>in</strong> June 2005 for the<br />
U2 Vertigo tour.<br />
Sports venues are always<br />
look<strong>in</strong>g for additional revenue<br />
and large scale live music is now<br />
a common route to achiev<strong>in</strong>g<br />
this. Clubs can make money<br />
from promot<strong>in</strong>g, ground rental<br />
and cater<strong>in</strong>g rights. At one end<br />
of the spectrum are the clubs<br />
commercial departments that<br />
are crav<strong>in</strong>g the <strong>in</strong>come, and at<br />
the other end is the man who<br />
has to recover the ground<br />
sometimes with<strong>in</strong> days to play<br />
the next game.<br />
Most shows have been at the<br />
end of the season <strong>in</strong> May or<br />
June. This allows for reparation<br />
afterwards which is good for the<br />
ground staff, but tends to mean<br />
that shows get very congested <strong>in</strong><br />
that period.<br />
So what does it take to cover a<br />
pitch? To give you an idea an<br />
8250m 2 pitch would demand<br />
some 200 man hours of labour,<br />
4 articulated trucks of<br />
equipment and at least a couple<br />
of all terra<strong>in</strong> forklifts. In an 8
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