Evaluation of Turfgrass Traffic Injury Abatement Systems.

Vehicles can leave tracks or ruts in turfgrass especially if the traffic is frequent or the soil is moist. However, mats, grids, meshes, or pavers which distribute the weight of a vehicle over a larger "footprint" may protect the turfgrass crown from injury and soil from compaction/rutting while providing for storm-water infiltration and less runoff than hardscapes.  Seven turfgrass traffic injury abatement systems: GrassPave2, The Grid System, Permaturf, Ecogrid, Drivable Grass, Sof' Path, and Ground Protection Mesh were evaluated using 4’ x 4’ plots on a 2" base that was 75% sand, 20% Axis, and 5% organic matter which were seeded with Riviera bermudagrass and maintained at 0.5”.  Traffic was inflicted 1 time/week by making 4 passes with a Caterpillar 216B skid steer loader. Visual turfgrass quality, injury, and visibility of the traffic injury abatement system estimates based on a 1-9 scale were taken weekly. Chlorophyll content was measured weekly with a FieldScout CM1000 from 10 locations in each plot inside and outside the rut. All treatments on the 2” sand base performed better than the native soil control.