A worker from The Motz Group unwraps the special delivery.
ZHS football coach Chad Grandstaff checks out the Devils logo that will be inlaid in the east end of the field. Many people had asked if the unique logo would be part of the field -- it was not a part of the original drawings -- and their wish has been granted!
The logo was carefully smoothed out, getting it ready for the installation process later in the day. It measures roughly 10 1/2 feet wide and 12 feet long and will be in the the east end of the field, just beyond the end zone and the long jump runway.
The "second-biggest" event of the morning was the arrival of the Musco lighting system.
Volunteers helped offload the lighting system. These boxes contain the individual lamps that have been specifically designed for the pole that will be located near this spot.
One of the lamps, still nestled in its box. Even with the hooded reflector, one person easily could handle the package. Each of the lamps on the old lighting system were more of a struggle -- weighing about 80 pounds apiece. This lamp has been assigned a particular spot on a particular pole.
A part of a pole assembly is lifted from the trailer.
Each piece of the pole assemblies were slowly walked to their pre-assigned spots. The poles and fixtures are to be assembled on Thursday, July 17, and set into place on the precast concrete bases that were installed last week.
Some of the walks were long ones!
As the lighting system was being staged into its respective areas, workers for The Motz Group continued the finishing touches to the field. Here the brush is used to start cleaning up the main playing area.
The field was also rolled.
As the field was being cleaned up, other workers began taking the 2,000-pound bags of rubber infill to an area where ...
... the rubber was dumped into a pile and ...
... mixed with sand. The mixture is about 30 percent sand.
The rubber/sand mixture was then loaded into a topdresser and ...
... spread onto the field. The infill will eventually be "worked in" with the spinning brush. This step will be repeated several times until the "grass blades" are stood up and the infill is at its correct depth.
While all of THAT was going on, the west end of the field (called a D-end, for its shape inside the track's curve) was being prepared for paving. This area will also have the track surface installed and be the new home to the high jump area. High jump used to be contested at the other end of the field.
A good example of the hubbub today -- grading in the D-end, applilcation of the rubber/sand infill along the pole vault runway, and the mixing of the infill in the background. More bags of rubber, and plenty of sand, await their fate in the foreground and background.