Bridget Reed Morawski
WASHINGTON (WMAL) — The final stage of turf restoration on the National Mall has begun, beginning a process that will last five weeks and will replace 522,000 square feet of sod.
The 11 acres of sod will be installed on top of a compaction-resistant engineered soil that was recently laid across the Mall.
With an estimated 25-30 million visitors per year, the grounds of the National Mall take a beating.
“All that foot traffic and compaction of the soil essentially reduces the soil to the composition of concrete,” said Mike Litterst, a spokesperson for the National Park Service.
The grounds crews removed approximately four to five feet of damaged soil before installing an irrigation drainage system and a 250,000 gallon sistern. The drainage system and the sistern will collect stormwater, which will be reused to water the grass.
The sod itself has been shipped from Tuckahoe Turf Farm in Hammonton, N.J., where owner Alan Carter grows turf for sports stadiums, golf courses, college campuses, and the National Mall. The rolls of turf were still planted in Carter’s fields at 1:00am on Tuesday, yet arrived by morning in the District by planting.
“We harvest and have it down there within six of seven hours after harvest, and then we try to have it installed within a few hours after that,” said Carter, noting that driving from Hammonton to the District takes only three hours in the middle of the night.
The grass is specifically engineered to “withstand the heavy traffic” from visitors, chosen specifically by the National Park Service for this reason.
Most businessmen don’t have a chance to see their product in action. Carter, however, has the pleasure of seeing his product almost any weekend he wants, in one of a number of sports stadiums.
“It’s neat to turn on the television on Sunday or Saturday and see the different grasses at different locations,” said Carter. “Hey, that’s my grass!”
Copyright 2016 by WMAL.com All Rights Reserved. (Photo: Mike Litterst)
