Bottom Ash in Green Construction

[Joe Buckley]

Has anyone ever heard of using furnace bottom ash as a drainage layer during early 20th Century greens construction?

I took some soil samples out of a 1920's James Braid course last week and at several points on the green at around 10" down I came across solid resistance. After some testing today it appears to be bottom ash. Was it quite common for early builds to be resourceful in that way and use by products like bottom ash as an early type of drainage carpet?

[Jon Wiggett]

Joe,

all sorts of locally sourced material was used in construction in the past. As long as it fitted the desired function it was fine. I have heard of furnace ash being used as a drainage layer.

Jon

[Joshua Pettit]

Joe,

The greens mix used at Valley Club (1928-9) included tiny bits of ash or charcoal.  Actually, one of the ways I mapped the original perimeters of the greens before we blew them up was by taking soil cores to spot the ash.

[Jeff_Brauer]

Joe,

Back in 1977-84, when I was working out of Chicago, we ran across the occasional old green with the ash as a layer 10-12" down.  I have never seen any old articles about who recommended it, or why, but I bet some of the sleuths here could find an answer.....

[Bryan Izatt]

Joe,

Here is an article from a 1926 Golf Illustrated that talks about building greens using clinker/breeze.  I think that is the same thing as you call bottom ash.  It was reputedly used at Yale.

[Alan FitzGerald CGCS MG]

We found ash in the base of the greens at Pine Valley. We figured it wasn't for drainage but to hold water for a number of reasons; Firstly we found no drain tile so there is/was nothing to take the water away; the native soils drained well so wouldn't have needed added drainage; the ash layer did not percolate at all; the soil under the ash did drain well. We figured they added it to keep moisture in the greens to help when they didn't have adequate irrigation.

[Ian Larson]

I was just recently at Chicago Golf Club and was talking to the guys about ash or cinder being found throughout all of the bunkers.

[Bradley Anderson]

It would have provided a layer for water to move sideways to drain tiles and it would have also discouraged earth worms.

[Joe Buckley]

Thanks for the info and the excellent article on the subject. It's certainly something I've never come across and my searches on the web for documentation of its use on golf courses didn't turn up much, so it's good to hear your experiences.

For the people that have come across it in the past in bunkers and greens, does the ash withstand the test of time or does it block up?

 

[Patrick_Mucci]

Joe,

I thought that Yale had an ash or charcoal layer in it's greens