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john and donna hall softball and baseball field

John and Donna Hall
Softball Complex

Transylvania University
Lexington, KY

In October 2016, Oheil Site Solutions began work on John and Donna Hall Softball Complex, located at Transylvania University in Lexington, KY. The project involved the renovation and relocation of the existing Softball Complex, and was completed in April 2017.

In this sportsfield construction project, Oheil Site Solutions worked as the General Contractor, and approximately 90% of the labor was self-performed. The existing field was moved to a different location on site, which allowed the new field to accommodate the new NCAA distances of 210 feet down the lines, and 220 feet in center field. The job also included the construction of home and visiting bullpens, double batting cages for the home team, and a single batting cage for the visiting team. The new, built-in dugouts were constructed and installed at 54 feet in length, featuring polywood benches, helmet and bat compartments, and water fountains. The field was enclosed with a 6-foot fence, and included a warning track made of brick dust.

Less visible but no less important, the project included many below-the-surface improvements as well. Topsoil stripping, grading, irrigation systems in the field and bullpens, a state of the art drainage system, utilities, and similar sitework tasks were also performed by Oheil Site Solutions.

Because of the time of year that construction took place, wet, winter weather conditions were a large complication. Additionally, the site itself is very small and compact, and it is surrounded by an antique, wrought iron fence, brick walls, and mature, native trees the University wanted to keep intact.

These sorts of site constraints and weather conditions complicated certain tasks, such as the demolition of an old building. Maneuvering heavy equipment and materials onto the job site was difficult enough given the wet weather and ground, but its difficulty was compounded by the tight layout of the lot and the surrounding elements, which included three very busy roads in the heart of downtown Lexington.

Another site-related trial was the soil itself, which necessitated special operations management, and was a factor in the earthwork performed. A pre-construction geotechnical engineering report revealed the presence of high plasticity soils (clay), with the potential for expansive behavior. Not surprisingly, soil that is prone to movement through shrinkage and expansion is problematic to utilize as load-bearing earth for newly-built structures- at least if maintaining structural integrity on a long-term basis is the goal. Since that was certainly our goal, it was a factor that we had to manage along with everything else. In order to achieve soil compaction rates of 95%, we remediated the clay with kiln dust lime.

Year Completed:
2017
Sport:
Softball
Surface:
Natural Turf

Recognition:

excellence in construction eagle award from the ohio valley associated builders and contractors

2018 Excellence in Construction Award

April 26, 2018

Oheil Site Solutions was honored to win the Excellence in Construction Eagle Award from the Ohio Valley Associated Builders and Contractors for our work on this project. 

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