Image31 Aug 2017

Building of tennis and other sports and leisure courts using acrylic materials

The contemporary form of tennis appeared in France, where it became the sport reserved for the nobility and the royal family during the 16th, 17th and 18th century. Afterwards it spread throughout Europe, and achieved its greatest popularity in England. The first game was played on grass by 22 players in Wimbledon before an audience of 200 people. The sport’s popularity has grown ever since.

A.1 DIMENSIONS OF TENNIS COURTS

The tennis court is 23.77 m (78 feet) long and 8.23 m (27 feet) wide for singles matches and 10.97 m (36 feet) for doubles matches. Additionally, a clear space of 18.288m (60 feet) width and 36.576m (120 feet) length around the court is required so that players can reach overrun balls. The doubles court is in a rectangular shape and dimensions of min. 33 to 36 m min. 108 feet). 
The tennis court slope should be equal along the whole surface, from one side to another or one corner to another. It is best for the slope to be of smaller dimensions for more efficient drainage. The slope from and towards the net is unacceptable. The slope should vary between 0.83% (1:120) and 1% (1:100).

A.2 TYPES OF TENNIS COURTS

Depending on the material of which the court surface is made, there are four basic types of tennis courts: clay courts, hard courts, grass courts and indoor (carpet, rubber or wooden) courts. Every type of surface has its properties that influence the game style.
Regarding the Grand Slam tournaments, the US Open and Australian Open are played on a hard surface. Roland Garros is played on a clay court, whereas Wimbledon is played on grass.
As part of its products, ADING offers acrylic materials for sports courts – ADINGFAVORIT, which are suitable for hard tennis courts.


B. BASE CONSTRUCTION
Asphalt concrete or reinforced concrete base can be used as a basis for acrylic sports surface systems.

B.1. ASPHALT CONCRETE BASE

In order to build a tennis court and apply ADINGFAVORIT on an asphalt base, the following steps should be taken:
1. Application of geotextile.
2. Construction of a crushed gravel subbase course of minimum 30 cm (0.63 mm) thickness, CBR 80.
3. Construction of an AB 11 (AB 8) asphalt course of minimum 5 cm thickness. The asphalt should be at least 14 days old before applying Adingfavorit system.

B.2. REINFORCED CONCRETE BASE

In order to build an acrylic tennis court with a reinforced concrete base, the following steps should be taken:

1. Application of geotextile.
2. Construction of a crushed gravel subbase course of minimum 30 cm (0.63 mm) thickness, CBR 80.
3. Construction of a reinforced concrete slab with min. strength of MB30 and min. thickness of  8 cm. Before concreting the plate, the substrate should be waterproofed by placing Geotextile and PVC Foil. The concrete slab has to be divided into two parts with an expansion joint placed where the net is foreseen. We suggest using an additive (superplasticizer) during the AB slab construction to reduce the W/C factor and improve the concrete’s compactness and workability. Apart from that, it is required that the concrete slab be of minimum 28 days of age before the ADINGFAVORIT system is applied.


B.3. BASE PREPARATION FOR APPLICATION OF AN ACRYLIC SPORTS SYSTEM

Before the system is applied, preparation of the surface on which it is to be applied is required to meet the following conditions:

1. The surface has to be completely cleared of dust, oils, derivatives and other dirt according to the manufacturer’s instructions. A pressure pump is required to properly remove all dirt. In case of algae or plant growth, they should be removed by using a product for that purpose, which afterwards will be fully removed.
2. Any existing cracks should be mechanically open and filled with elastic sealant. They should be cleaned and sterilised against vegetation 14 days before the filling sealant is applied.
3. Holes larger than 0.5 mm are filled in by using the repair mixture REPARATUR MALTER F.


C. APPLICATION OF AN ACRYLIC SPORTS SYSTEM - ADINGFAVORIT

1. PRIMER V is applied with a brush or a roller on the whole surface.
2. ADINGFAVORIT – PUTTY is applied to the surface with a rubber trowel 1 to2 hours after the primer application.
3. Two to three finishing coats of ADINGFAVORIT – COLOURED are applied with a rubber trowel 24 hours after the plaster application.
Each coat is applied over a dried coat (after 30 to 60 minutes). The colour layout is according to the investor’s requirements.
4. ADINGMARKER, an acrylic floor paint, is used for the court marking lines.


D. MATERIALS’S CONSUMPTION AND SPECIFICATION

* In accordance with the tennis court (hard courts) recommendations, the internal court surface - /green colour/ equals 23,78 x 10.97 m = 260.89m2.

MATERIAL

Packaging (kg)

Consumption

(kg/m2)

Number of packagings

Necessary quantity

PRIMER-V (261 m2)

20/1

0.35

5

100

ADINGFAVORIT PUTTY

( 261 m2)

50/1

2.0

11

550

ADINGFAVORIT

COLOURED /GREEN/ (261m2)

25/1

1.2

13

325

ADINGMARKER

25/1

0.5

1

25

E. BUILDING OF OTHER SPORTS AND LEISURE COURTS

ADINGFAVORIT is a high-quality finishing acrylic system, which apart from being ideal for construction of tennis courts is also ideal for outdoor or indoor sports courts (volleyball, friendship football, basketball, etc.), playgrounds and amusement parks. It can also be used as a decorative finishing coat for pedestrian and bicycle lanes. Permanent colours add value to the construction and emphasise the workable surfaces as an architectural design element.


1. Excellent adhesion, particularly to an asphalt substrate
2. Abrasion and UV resistance
3. Solvent-free and non-toxic
4. Waterproof
5. Decorative –different colours and shades
6. Jointless floor
7. Cost-effective and easily applicable
8. Easily maintained

Author: Petrovska Aleksandra Grad.Arch. Eng.