Plastic sheeting
A plastic track (often also called " tartan track ") is used in athletics primarily for running and jumping competitions. Ancillary areas, mostly made of the same material as the actual running track, are used for the throwing disciplines. Small playing fields for basketball , volleyball and other ball sports are often installed in the stadium in the semicircular segments behind the soccer goals .
In German-speaking countries, three different synthetic flooring systems are offered in addition to the traditional, but increasingly rare, floor coverings . These are synthetic running tracks made in-situ, so-called in-situ floors, hybrid surfaces made from prefabricated elements and in-situ components, and synthetic running tracks made from completely prefabricated individual elements. They are installed on asphalt , in exceptional cases also on concrete or old sports floors.
Insitu floors
The variant of a synthetic sports floor most frequently installed in outdoor sports facilities in Germany is the so-called in-situ flooring. Insitu floors are only produced on site at the construction site. They mostly consist of styrene-butadiene rubber (SBR) on a recycling basis, granulates made of the synthetic rubber ethylene-propylene-diene rubber (EPDM) and the binding agent polyurethane (PUR). These components are mixed on site, applied in a pulpy state, leveled and compacted. The material mixture hardens and forms an elastic layer that is firmly attached to the substrate. In-situ floor coverings are usually made of several such layers, usually an elastic layer made of rubber granulate (SBR) and liquid PUR and a wear layer made of liquid PUR and EPDM. The leading manufacturers of these floors in Germany are BSW and Polytan .
Hybrid coverings
Hybrid floors are the second most frequently installed in German-speaking countries. They consist of a pre-produced elastic layer made of SBR granules and PUR and a wear layer made of EPDM that is produced and installed on site using the in-house process. The prefabricated elastic sheets are glued on site to the asphalt base course. The adhesive also has the function of absorbing and compensating for the mechanical stresses that occur between the asphalt and the elastic layer.
The installation of the EPDM wear layer in the in-situ process connects the elastic sheets installed butt-to-butt and closes their pores. This creates a seamless wear layer. The thickness of the liquid-applied PUR-EPDM wear layer can be controlled very well, as it is only a few millimeters and the PUR is applied in a liquid and self-flowing manner using the wet-on-wet method. A typical example of a hybrid surface is the Regupol synthetic running track from the manufacturer BSW.
Plastic running tracks made from prefabricated individual parts
The sports floors that are seldom installed in German-speaking countries are those that consist entirely of prefabricated individual pieces and are laid to form a fixed total area on the construction site. Their material is usually vulcanized rubber , which forms the floor system in two or more layers - elastic layer and wear layer. Such floors are mainly offered in Germany by the manufacturer Mondo.
surfaces
Insitu floors and hybrid floors can have different surfaces. A distinction is made between structure-coated or spray-coated, pour-coated and cast-coated usable surfaces. Coverings made from prefabricated individual parts have structured rubber compound layers. Cast-coated surfaces have established themselves in competitive sports in German-speaking countries. Their appearance and structure resemble those of traditional floor coverings with the grain size of EPDM granules.
history
The first tartan track in Europe was installed in 1968 in the Letzigrund stadium in Zurich . Tartan is a brand name of the 3M company . Because of its popularity, the name is also used as a deonym for other synthetic surfaces.
disposal
Many pavements created before 1983 contain 50 to 600 ppm mercury and other heavy metals that are harmful to the environment. This stabilized the surface against biological degradation and extended its service life. This is harmless in use, but in the case of demolition or new construction, such coverings must be disposed of as hazardous waste. This can result in disposal costs of 100 € / m² covering.
See also
Individual evidence
- ↑ Technical report BSW GmbH, Floors for athletics and ball games - a system comparison
- ↑ Disposal as hazardous waste, information bulletin "Environment Aargau" (No. 1 / January 1998)
- DIN 18035, part 6
- EN 14877: 2006
