FAN FORUM
THE DIRT ON 'THE DIRT'
Notre Dame Stadium has a new ar-
tificial playing surface yet shoe and
cleat action seem to kick up dirt. How
can that be?
James E. Lalley
Sioux City, Iowa
Mr. Lalley, FieldTurf is not the same as
the artificial turf or Astroturf American
sports grew up with in the 1970s. Back
then, it was more like a thin green carpet
with a pad underneath it (although in
some places players complained that it was
like a carpet placed over a parking lot).
FieldTurf has mainly three elements.
The first is the infill, which is composed of
a bottom layer of silica sand. Next is the
middle layer, which is a mixture of sand
and cryogenic rubber. Finally, the surface
is monofilament polyethene blend fibers
meant to replicate blades of grass (with the
infill as the cushion).
The "dirt" you see kicked up actually
is the grinded up cryogenic rubber, which
look like small black rubber pellets. Its
purpose is to help provide better traction
The "dirt" fans have seen kicked up on Notre Dame's FieldTurf actually is grinded up cryogenic rubber,
which forms part of the middle layer of the new surface and looks like small black rubber pellets.
PHOTO BY BILL PANZICA
BE HEARD!
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Blue & Gold Illustrated
P. O. Box 1007
Notre Dame, IN 46556
or e-mail to: lsomogyi@blueandgold.com
