Seeding of natural turf started at the Nizhny Novgorod Stadium

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On the future football pitch at the Nizhny Novgorod Stadium the seeding of the natural turf has been started. This was reported during another on-site meeting with Valery Shantsev, Governor of the Nizhny Novgorod Region, which was held at the construction site.

“Drainage, aeration, watering and heating systems are ready for operation. The top and bottom root zones of the football pitch have been finally filled with special mixes. The multilayer pitch base is 45cm thick. The materials laid in the turf base, such as crushed stone and sand, originate from the Nizhny Novgorod Region and were additionally tested for compliance with FIFA requirements by a specialised laboratory in Scotland. It appears that even a world-class football turf cannot be installed without our local materials,” commented Valery Shantsev.

According to Sergey Pichushkin, Striytransgaz’ stadium construction manager, the turf will be seeded using a mix of several Ryegrass turfgrass varieties. “Depending on the weather, the grass will sprout in 2 to 3 weeks. Then care will be given to it, including watering, cutting and providing additional illumination where there’s not enough sunlight. Once the root system of the pitch has matured within two months, it will be sewn through with polymer fibres, enhancing the turf durability more than thrice,” said Sergey Pichushkin. “The football pitch has special in-built sensors to measure the oxygen content and soil pH. Also, temperatures in the top and bottom root zones of the turf will be monitored. This will provide the agronomists with all data required to assess the pitch condition.”

At the same time, the installation of the roofing of high-strength translucent polycarbonate is continuing at the stadium, with over 5,000 sq.m out of 57,000 sq.m already installed. Continuing is the erection of the pedestrian overpass, landscaping, installation of utilities, internal and external finishing etc. Overall, over 60 types of jobs are being done at the stadium. More than 2,500 workers are working at the construction site.