NEWS

Novermber 2, 2011

This fall held a lot of hope and promise for the soccer teams at Madonna University. For a combined 30 seasons of play, Madonna soccer has never had a field to call their own. They've trained and played at 25 different "home" fields over the years, winning multiple championships and awards while developing a top-notch program. For many of the players, however, this new complex and the promise of a home field is one of the most significant developments in their career at Madonna.

Frank Rewold and Son Inc., after working successfully with the Felician Sisters on the nearby Marywood Nursing Care Center, were once again hired by the sisters to work in tandem with designer Grissim Metz Andriese on this aggressively-scheduled project.

One of the main issues with the proposed site was compromised soil that retained too much water and virtually stopped all progress on the project. It became clear this would continue to cause problems with keeping the playing field level and clear. The new synthetic turf was a major investment for the university, so creating the proper underlayer insured a long future with few repairs.

Soil and Materials Engineers (SME), one of the project consultants, suggested the use of a product called Lime Kiln Dust for creating an entirely new soil bed from the existing ground. This material was shipped in from the Upper Peninsula of Michigan in just 2 days, which kept the schedule on track, and Wadel Stabilization was on-site quickly to begin processing the soil.

Wadel's system uses specialized machinery to churn existing soil with an additive that alters the chemical makeup of the soil permanently. This can increase the strength of the ground for infrastructure projects or, in the case of Madonna University, help to control the rate of the soil's shrink and swell at outdoor sites subject to drastic weather changes.

The picture below shows a swath of land just after the machinery passed over, churning the Lime Kiln Dust mixture into the ground. On the left side is the original soil, complete with sides that crumbled away easily and held standing water. The right side shows the soil post-churning, and it looks almost as though a new layer of soil was laid down. It wasn't! The soil is now permanently different and will hold up to lots of foot traffic, wear and tear, and all kinds of weather.