The £80,000 drainage improvement project along with a Dragons-funded £40,000 irrigation scheme was only partly completed last season.
The main drainage channels running the length of the pitch were put in place but the sand and gravel slits that run across the pitch and tie the whole system together were only in place from the changing rooms end up to halfway. That left the northern end of the pitch - traditionally the most troublesome end - at risk of flooding and it was that end that suffered so badly during one of the wettest winters on record with all three teams suffering postponements because of it.
Rodney Parade’s head of operations had this to say about the new drainage system, “The company who originally put the drainage in came back this year and sorted the drainage to the specifications that were agreed last year.
Talking about the weather from last year, Jones added, “That amount of rain last year was an exception, as people were even flooded out of their houses. Last year I do not think that we went through a 48 hour period without any rainfall which didn’t help.
“Due to the fact that we had no drainage on one part of the pitch and the weather was, since records began, some of the worst we have seen. The water wasn’t going anywhere and the worst thing that you can do on a waterlogged surface is work on it. You realistically need to wait until the surface water has free drained itself and then get on and alleviate those problems. But because there is no underlying drainage for the water to go through it sat on the surface of the pitch causing the postponements and cancelled matches.
“Hopefully going forward now all works have been completed this is something we can put behind us and look towards the new season.”
“Even though all works have been completed we still have three teams playing on one surface so we should still be mindful of the conditions. But we are in a much better position that we were last year and I look forward to the coming season.”
