Pavement section for a Tennis Court 1

[Geoduck]

Does anyone have experience designing asphalt covered sport courts? I need to give sugrade prep recs, baserock thickness, and asphalt thickness for the court. The court will not be subject to any loading other than foot traffic. Subgrade soil is a very stiff undisturbed native clay with LL=33, PI=19.

Is there an applicable TI value I should consider for design? If not, is there a minimum thickness of asphalt and baserock that I should consider for this?

 

[eric1037]

Are you in a frost-prone area?

Drainage is very important for these types of pavements.

 

[Geoduck]

Not frost-prone.

 

[cvg]

why asphalt? most courts I have seen are concrete which provides a smoother surface

 

[VAD]

You may want to check the Asphalt Institute Handbook for a bit on tennis courts. Alternatively you can check their website.

 

[Geoduck]

Asphalt is what the client has requested. I typically see concrete as well, thus the question.

I contacted the Asphalt Institute, but my question is still not answered.

 

[VAD]

I guess it depends on what Edition of the Asphalt Handbook one is looking at. I have a 1989 Edition and a 1965 edition - guess I am getting old. The 19675 Edition has a couple pages on tenis Courts. the 1989 does not have such details. drainage is important. They show a cross section with 4 -6 inches of compacted gravel on top of a one inch layer of sand above the subgrade to avoid mixing of the subgrade. these days we use geotextile. This system is topped with an asphalt surface. A fine mix is required such as sand asphalt mix. I remeber in 1974 workuing for a Contractor I was involved in paving tennis courts in St Marteen, Netherland Antilles, we used a stone screening mix.

I can fax or e-mail you the relevant pages if you desire.

Nothing definite is said about surface thickness but it appears that max 2 inches is all that is required. If I remember well we used about 1.5 inches of asphalt mix. Looked good at the time.

Hope this helps.

 

[oldestguy]

This pavement will crack eventually, so your efforts in design should go towards minmizing the cracking. A softer ashphalt stretches more, but in hot weather this can get sticky.

In my expericnce if one designs this as a parking lot pavement with surface course thickness at least 2-3/4", placed in two layers, it results in a longer life than a thinner one course pavement. Base course stone does not appear to be critical, so I'd use no less than 6 inches, for ease of placement.

One prime recommendation is Never Seal Coat, such as what is common in parking lots. This usually is less elastic than the hot mix below and it tends to cause cracks. To check if I am right, examine parking lots and driveways where they coat it every year and you will see many more cracks and wider ones than non coated lots.

 

[eric1037]

I agree with oldestguy on the use of two courses of asphalt.

Another issue with the seal coat is the dark color. It heats up the pavement and can cause premature deterioration.

I would recommend providing the owner with a maintenance manual describing how to maintain the pavement. It should include crack sealing. The long-term maintance has a significant effect on the performance of the pavement.

 

[Geoduck]

Thank you all for all your help!

 

[VAD]

Geoduck:

I just bumped into this site. You may wish to review the info.

http://www.novasports.com/ref/section2i.htm

 

[LHA]

Thanks VAD. I'm working on one now. I will see the paving designer gets this, at least to consider.

Engineering is the practice of the art of science - Steve

 

[Krite]

Lots of information here

http://sportsbuilders.org

 

[Ron]

geoduck...generally asphalt courts use a minimum of 4-inch compacted, graded aggregate base course and at least one inch of fine, dense-graded asphalt, usually followed by an acrylic color coating and striping.

Check the specifications of the International Tennis Federation.

 

[roncity]

And make sure you get a contractor who has experience placing asphalt in small, tight confined spaces . Most contractors are used to working in parking lots where there is room to turn dumptrucks and pavers.
And make sure the contractor has experience in setting and meeting flater grades ; all tennis courts have less slope than parking lots : it will be tough to avoid birb baths in the final surface.
( And pave it on a hot day when the contract has more time to work with the surface. )

 

[rmadrid]

Check the UBC code for sport courts. The pavement for sport court are required to absorb energy to avoid damage to your knee joints. I would not recommend concrete for any sport use paving.

 

[MedNeuvo]

Is there any quidelines in the web for Pool also?