Alabama installs ‘state-of-the-art’ field, SubAir system at Bryant-Denny Stadium
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. – Alabama’s 2023 season kicks off in less than seven weeks, and finishing touches are being placed on a new playing surface and infrastructure at Bryant-Denny Stadium.
However, this is more than an annual re-sodding. The prescription athletic turf system and sand profiles that were there were installed in 1992 had degraded to the point of non-functioning and needed replacing. Not only the turfgrass growing components but most of the infrastructure and support systems at or under the playing field needed to be modernized and replaced.
The Crimson Tide looked at three field options, keeping in mind player safety, retaining cleat interface, providing tools to combat climate variables, extending the growth of the turfgrass into the late fall/early winter and continuing to deliver an “amazing game-day visual presentation” to fans, broadcast viewers and recruits for the vision behind the offseason undertaking.
UA chose a natural grass playing surface with synthetic turf sidelines that will be enhanced by a vacuum-assisted drainage feature that comes with a heated air capability to warm the soil.
“It’s state of the art,” said Alabama executive deputy director of athletics Shane Lyons in an interview with BamaOnLine. “Everything is replaced. We’re looking for the future. Hopefully, in my lifetime, this thing won’t have to be done again.”
NorthBridge Bermuda + synthetic sidelines
The new playing surface is made up of a NorthBridge Bermudagrass that stretches a couple of steps beyond the sidelines for player safety. That came after consultation with Alabama’s team doctors and collaboration with different individuals. It remains unclear if Will Reichard and other specialists were asked, but there are square bump-outs of natural grass on each turf sideline in order for the kickers of both teams to be able to warm up on the actual playing surface.
The sideline areas for both teams are made up of synthetic turf, which sits atop concrete like most other stadiums. Only this concrete is pervious, more like a sponge, to allow water to move through it to the new draining system. In addition to the field and sidelines, Alabama also moved all of the valves for its sprinkler system to one area to be able to shut them off at once.
While there is ongoing clean-up taking place at Bryant-Denny, as one would expect with 20,000 tons of material brought in and out of the football stadium over the course of the project, the last turf for the $6.2 million transformation was installed Friday. The Crimson Tide is set to kick off its 2023 season on Saturday, Sept. 2, but will hold two preseason scrimmages in August.
“You could play on it today if we wanted to play on it,” Lyons told BOL. “You could stripe it and paint it and all that right now, and it’s playable. But obviously, you want to give it a week or two to take hold. That’s why we’re getting it done. The first game is Sept. 2, but you’re out there before then and having your athletes (on it).
“It’s ready to go today if we had to go on it. They’re a few days ahead of schedule. I think it was supposed to be early next week, but they finished up this morning. It’s ready to go.”
Second SubAir system in college football
As stated earlier, this was more than just replacing the field turf. Roughly 20 inches of soil was removed from the stadium floor to make room for the new SubAir system to be able to work. For that, about 8,000 feet of drainage piping was installed underneath the new playing surface.
According to SubAir, subsurface aeration and moisture removal are critical to achieving the type of results that golf courses and sporting facilities demand. If there is a lot of rain on the field and UA feels it isn’t draining, it can turn on the SubAir to suck water out. In addition, eight sensors (2 oxygen, 6 moisture/temperature) were installed in the subgrade to manage conditions.
“If it gets too dry, the sensors are going to go off or if it’s too much moisture, the sensors are going to go off to say, ‘Suck some of the moisture out of here,’” Lyons said. “It’s very high-tech. We replace the surface each year. This was really getting down into what we truly call deferred maintenance and replacing the system that’s gonna be here, hopefully, for the next 30 years or so.”
Many professional football and baseball stadiums have a SubAir system in place, including the Denver Broncos, Miami Dolphins, New England Patriots and Philadelphia Eagles. Alabama is now only the second college program in the country with a SubAir system, joining Stanford.
“The big thing was continuing to deliver a game day visual presentation to fans, broadcasters and viewers,” Lyons said. “That field is something very important. It’s kind of like when you watch the Masters, just how that’s taken care of. A lot of golf courses have the SubAir system as part of that. I happened to go to the Masters this year and seeing the amount of rain, that course was perfectly dry. Now, outside of the course was a different story.”
Alabama has December football in mind
The SubAir system is also able to flow air underneath the field, which can help the natural grass grow in colder temperatures. With the soil in mind, Alabama can elect to pump air back into the system above 65 degrees and then place heat blankets on top of the grass so it can continue to grow into December to keep the NorthBridge Bermuda from going dormant in the winter.
One reason for the changes at Bryant-Denny Stadium is the College Football Playoff expanding to 12 teams for the 2024-25 season. The first-round playoff games in 2024 will take place the week ending Saturday, Dec. 21, at either the home field of the higher-seeded team or at another site designated by the higher-seeded institution. Under the new format, Alabama could have hosted a playoff game in Tuscaloosa this past year just before the Christmas holiday.
“Given the fact that we knew for sure that the college playoff was expanding to 12 teams, knowing that we have a possibility of playing into December and hosting a game,” Lyons said, “that was all part of the evaluation of it to say, ‘This is why we need the SubAir system to be able to keep the field at top-notch all the way through the month of December.’
“All that played a huge part in that decision-making.”
The Tide could have hosted the playoff game without the new playing surface and infrastructure a season ago, but now, the field should look like it did in early September in late December.
“It’s about the aesthetics of a pleasing field and all that,” Lyons said. “You can keep a field looking good, but you’d have to go out there and spray it with green to do all that. Now, to have the ability to keep that field at the same type of level that we have in September and October even into December now, it’s exciting for us, our players, our fans and everything.”
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