Scrambling to make deadline

Bryce Alderton

As deadline draws near, the days will likely stretch into more hours

for some workers charged with installing the new synthetic turf

inside LeBard Stadium on the Orange Coast College campus.

But they are ready and determined to do what it takes to have the

field primed before 5 p.m. Saturday, when Orange Coast will host

Saddleback for its home opener.

“We’ll most likely work under the lights [Wednesday night],” said

Dave Darclay, a technician with FieldTurf, the company installing the

artificial grass inside the venerable stadium, which turns 50 today.

Wednesday marked the first day crews began the final stage of turf

installation, which involves covering the field with the specially

engineered rubber-sand mixture.

The addition of the synthetic turf, a common surface many NCAA and

NFL teams now use in their stadiums, is one of a handful of completed

or planned renovations to Coast. The school’s soccer field is covered

with the artificial grass, designed to provide a softer cushion for

players, along with lessening the amount of maintenance natural grass

typically requires.

Earlier Wednesday, crews anchored the goal posts, installed a logo

at midfield -- “Pirates” is written in script -- and added white hash

marks to the evergreen-colored field that glistened in the afternoon

sun.

Darclay drove a cart from sideline to sideline, dumping sand as he

went along in a straight parallel path to the yard lines.

Sand is poured first followed by ground rubber released from a

separate cart. The rubber is called Nike because it is made up of

pulverized shoes from the manufacturer, Darclay said. A vehicle

resembling a street sweeper then mixes the rubber and sand together.

Darclay said it usually takes two days to cover a football field.

Jesus Estrada has performed multiple jobs since arriving at Coast

more than two weeks ago.

Estrada, 22, from San Bernardino, has glued sections of the turf

together along with helping unload and unpack some of the

400,000-pound bags of sand that will cover the field.

Estrada, who has helped install turf at high schools and colleges

in Redding, Santa Monica and Irvine, said it takes about 130 bags to

cover a football field.

A typical day for Estrada starts about 7 a.m. and ends at 5 or 6

p.m. He stood with his hand resting on the next bag of sand to open

Wednesday afternoon, his forehead showing dollops of sweat from the

afternoon sun.

He said the heat doesn’t bother him.

“It’s sometimes harder [to work in the heat], we do the best we

can,” Estrada said. “[The field] has to be done by Saturday.”