CLARKSVILLE, TN (CLARKSVILLE NOW) – RichEllen Park is undergoing maintenance during the winter months due to damage to its concrete block wall. This damage was caused by the pushing and pulling of the cosmetic pads over time on a specific fence post location on the wall.
Though the RichEllen designs were satisfactory in 2016, the renovation to Stokes Field will have a slight change in its design to prevent similar damage. The issue was brought up at a Montgomery County Parks & Recreation Committee meeting on Dec. 10.
What happened to the wall?
Chief County Engineer Nicholas Powell said the backstop details for RichEllen Park and Stokes Field were designed by the same company. Though these designs were completed correctly, they can be improved upon now that county officials know the impacts of time and heavy public use on the installations.
According to Powell, after years of use, the “webs” or cross walls within the concrete blocks became too weak to support the attachment points of the padded backstops. Eventually, the pads broke, tearing off chunks of concrete with them.
These attachment points are a specific location known as a Z-channel, which supports the weight of the backstop pad. Powell said, “With the pushing and pulling on the pads over time, the locations where the Z-channel were attached to the open webs of the block have pulled out due to the lower strength in those block sections that were cut around the steel poles.”
Powell and the Montgomery County staff have redesigned other elements of RichEllen that were not standing up to the high public use and have made some recommendations for how this backstop can be remediated One recommendation is not attaching the backstop pads to the cross walled sections of the blocks.
Powell said, “We will be pointing out to the Stokes Field contractor to not attach the backstop pads to the open segments of the block wall, to not have the same breaking points.”
When asked when the field will be finished, Powell said Stokes Field is scheduled to be completed in summer of 2025. The contractor is currently working on underground utilities, retaining walls, and constructing the concessions stand and maintenance building structures.
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