Grass Sprouted on the Field of Nizhny Novgorod Stadium

See a new photo report on the Nizhny Novgorod Stadium construction (July, 2017)
Interview with Oleg Pyzyak, head of project on Football Field Creation at Nizhny Novgorod Stadium

The field of the Nizhny Novgorod Stadium currently being built by JSC Stroytransgaz for the FIFA World Cup 2018™ has begun to “green”. The sown mixture of several varieties of grass Rigras gave the first shoots.

“Thanks to good weather conditions, the grass has sprouted rather quickly. It took just over a week from sowing. Our current task is to carefully look after the turf. We will undertake an entire complex of agrotechnical measures, comprising watering, cutting, fertilizing with mineral fertilizers, additional lighting. In a word, we will be doing everything to form quality stadium field meeting all the requirements of the FIFA by the fall of this year,” said Sergey Pichushkin, the construction manager of the Nizhny Novgorod Stadium.

The football field of the stadium is provided with special sensors required for the analysis of the oxygen composition and the soil acidity level. Also, temperatures in the top and bottom root zones of the turf will be monitored by specialists. These data will help agrotechnicians to assess the condition of the field and plan the maintenance measures.

The turf will be weaved after the root zone of the turf is formed using the technology developed by the Dutch specialists. About 48,000 km of fibre will be used to weave the turf, a thread of this length can wrap the globe. This technology will increase the durability of the turf by more than 3 times and reduce the risk of injury to athletes.

According to the specialists’ plans, all fieldwork will be finished by the autumn of 2017. The first official test matches at the Nizhny Novgorod Stadium will be held in the spring of 2018. During the FIFA 2018 World Cup™ in Russia, the stadium will host 6 matches, including 1/4 finals.