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Top, Right: ValleyCrest excavated the planted areas and installed the irrigation systems: Hunter sprinklers on Rainbird controllers for the turf and Rainbird drip emitters in the xeriscaped planters. They also fine-graded the turf areas before hydroseeding and sodding. (VaLLeyCrest) Above, Right: The large areas of turf were hydroseeded with paspalum. Smaller areas within the playground were sodded with paspalum but then had to be over-seeded with rye due to how late in the year it was. (JaCkie merCandetti PhotograPhy) run and the play equipment and shade structures were installed. Then FlexGround came in with their Bobcat compact loaders, excavated the area and leveled the sub-grade. Next, they laid down type II ABC aggregate in two- inch lifts, wet it down and compacted it to a 95 percent compaction rate. The final depth of the aggregate is a minimum of four inches but because some areas of the playground needed less cushioning than others, based on the type of equipment installed and its IPEMA fall- height requirements, the aggregate is up to nine inches deep in places to provide a level surface throughout. The actual safety surfacing product, which the com- pany calls UltraFlex, is a two-layer system that was in- vented in Europe over 30 years ago for pool surrounds. The cushion layer is made from recycled truck and air- plane tires that are shredded and then have all metals re- moved. The wear-course layer is EPDM or TPV rubber. "It evolved as a playground surfacing material more from an ADA-compliance concern," says Bill Stafford, co-owner of the company. "Unlike sand, EPDM and TPV rubber make a nice, stable, durable unitary surface." And there are no patents involved. FlexGround just purchases the materials from various compa- nies. The wear-course rubber comes in a selection of different colors. When the ground was prepped and dry, mortar mixers were brought in to combine the materials with urethane. As some crewmembers mixed, others trans- ported the mixture with wheelbarrows to those on the ground who with guide rails and hand trowels installed the cushioning layer at the predetermined depths. Stafford said this part of the job took the 12-man crew about 15 days to complete the 20,000-plus square feet of area. "Typically we can do 3,000 square feet of either layer in a day," he says. The wear-course layer, which in this case was TPV rubber, was also mixed with urethane. It was installed in a ½-inch layer. Blue and tan were the colors selected for Riverview Park. This layer took about the same amount September 2014 37