Chris Waller, Director of Recreation Services, City of Rawlins: “We are ecstatic about the project. It’s everything we wanted to accomplish. We had a range in mind of what we would consider

successful and Aspen really met the high end of it. If we had the opportunity to work with them again, we would do so in a heartbeat.”

Case StudyRochelle Ranch Golf Course

Rawlins, Wyoming

Upside Down DrainageYields Top Results

site prior to renovation

Rochelle Ranch Golf Course, an 18-hole munici-pal golf course, is owned by the City of Rawl-ins, Wyoming. It is part of a large tract of land donated to the city by Curt and Marian Rochelle, local sheep ranchers, who paid for the course con-struction. Designed by Kenneth M. Kavanaugh, the course opened in 2004. At an altitude of 6,800 feet, the course has good elevation change and magnificent mountain views.

But the course was plagued from the beginning with a shallow water table and ground water with a high salt content. The extreme salinity of the ground water percolating up meant that it was impossible to grow turf grass, no matter how good the maintenance program; the groundwater simply killed the grass. There was enough salt on the topsoil surface that it looked like snow from a distance. Seven fairways were completely unplay-able on the course.

The City of Rawlins worked hard to find a solu-tion to their golf course’s challenges. They tried several approaches which were unsuccessful.

Finally, Keith Haskins, an engineer at Wyoming-based PMPC Engineering, came up with a plan that involved soil analysis to accurately predict bury depths where the groundwater would not kill the grass, and spacings that worked around 90% of the existing sprinkler system.

PROJECT GOALSThe main goal for this renovation was to intercept the ground water at four holes and route it away from the golf course turf while still maintaining necessary drainage for growing.

PROJECT CHALLENGES/SOLUTIONS • Staying ahead of the water

Having such a shallow water table made it difficult to trench for drainage pipe; within an hour, water might be welling up from the trenching. At times the ground water was running so fast, that the four holes under con-struction were actually mud holes.

Rochelle Ranch Golf CourseHaskins’ design worked from the outlet backward and in-volved precise placement; GPS coordinates were provided for placement of the new upside-down drainage system, which was designed to catch and divert the groundwater before it could reach the root system or the surface. This system kept the high salinity ground water from adversely affecting the turf. Aspen took great care in mak-ing sure everything was identi-

cal to plan, even in the worst of weather. Tens of thousands of feet of pipe and all the drains were installed via GPS coordinates.

HDPE drainage pipe was used throughout the project. a sound environmental choice because it’s chlorine-free, durable, and offers a leak-free performance.

Golf Superintendent Dave Befus said the dif-ference in the fairways could be seen almost immediately. “After the trenches and drain tile went in, within a 24-hour period, you could see the soil changing. It was quite dramatic.”

• Weather, weather, weather The project was scheduled for late fall/early winter because 1) the golf course was closed, and 2) the water table was at the lowest. But this timing meant that weather conditions were extreme. On some days, snow had to be re-moved so that work could commence; on other days, wind chill brought temperatures down to 25 below zero!

Rich Abbott, president of Aspen’s Southeast Division, and on-site project manager, says the weather was a huge obstacle. “We worked in a

constant state of freeze and thaw, freeze and thaw. A lot of times it was a sheer test of will to get the work done! We had people out for two hours and then brought them back inside for two hours. That was the only way we could get the work done with-out putting our people in harm’s way.” After the areas were dried out, catch basins were installed so that all surface water drained to them.

Aspen used some existing natural ponds chained together into one large pond in order to store the salty groundwater. But there was no electricity on site, and so a solar pump was installed with a junction box that monitored the water level coming into the pond. When the water reached a certain level, the pump would discharge the water into a pre-approved culvert to dissipate.

PROJECT RESULTS The four holes completed on this project now grow grass and look great; where there once were mud holes, there now is playable turf. In fact, the city is so happy with the result that they’re consid-ering renovating additional holes.

Keith Haskins, PMPC Engineering, said Aspen’s professionalism was evident from the start. “From the beginning, they were very professional. They took our specs seriously. With some companies, as soon as you sign an agreement, you get the separation between owner and client – if there’s anything that comes up, that’s a change order. Not so with Aspen. They just have a great attitude and are excited about what they’re doing.”

Chris Waller, Director of Recreation Services, City of Rawlings, said that all Aspen personnel were very respectful to the employees and to the public. “Aspen was very pleasant to work with. Too many times, we’re dealing with ‘this is the contract and we’re sticking to it’ but Aspen’s on-site people continu-ally exceeded the parameters of the contract. And their time tables were right on.”

CORPORATE OFFICERonnie Adkins, Vice President2400 Ritter DriveDaniels, WV 25832(304) 763-4573

SOUTHEAST DIVISION OFFICENick Mazzella, Business Manager2015 Ayrsley Town Boulevard, Suite 202Charlotte, NC 28273(704) 280-8498

Location:Type of project:Cost:Construction started:Course opened:Engineer:

Builder:Course Superintendent:Owner Representatives:

Rawlins, WYRenovation$293,905.18October 2009May 2010Keith Haskins, PMPC EngineeringAspen CorporationDave BefusChris Waller, Director of Recreation Services, City of Rawlins

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