Asphalt Bunker Liners?

[Jim_Coleman]

   It seems that porous asphalt bunker liners are the new norm  I played with an engineer this weekend who is skeptical.  He says porous asphalt will clog up with dirt and other stuff over time, and so will not remain porous for as long as expected.  In fact, he says, the specs for the product call for the asphalt to be vacuumed periodically to resist clogging - something that might be doable for a driveway, but not for a sand trap.  So, he says, they will have to be replaced more often than expected, and it will be more expensive because one will have to remove the asphalt.  Have enough asphalt liners been in long enough to test this hypothesis?

[Anthony_Nysse]

   It seems that porous asphalt bunker liners are the new norm  I played with an engineer this weekend who is skeptical.  He says porous asphalt will clog up with dirt and other stuff over time, and so will not remain porous for as long as expected.  In fact, he says, the specs for the product call for the asphalt to be vacuumed periodically to resist clogging - something that might be doable for a driveway, but not for a sand trap.  So, he says, they will have to be replaced more often than expected, and it will be more expensive because one will have to remove the asphalt.  Have enough asphalt liners been in long enough to test this hypothesis?

Its pretty popular and well liked by my peers. They done all the testing and it was actually developed by Dan at Philadelphia Cricket Club.


http://www.matrixbunker.com/photo-and-video-gallery/

[Jim_Coleman]

   Thanks Tony.  I guess time will tell.

[David_Tepper]

There has been at least one discussion here over the past year or two on the newer bunker liner systems.

[Ian Andrew]

   It seems that porous asphalt bunker liners are the new norm

I find the choices to be very regional and dependent upon the economics of the club.


For example a Bentonite Liner is the most common choice in Southern Ontario
It's clean clay in Quebec
In Buffalo it's almost always sod.


The one thing I do know is freeze / thaw eliminates a lot of liners systems north of the border.

[Dan Herrmann]

Gil Hanse did some redesign work 2 years ago on #14 at French Creek.   A nice new bunker was built with a porous asphalt bunker, and it's performed great.   No sand contamination, and almost no washout after a big rainstorm.   


And you'd never know it was there.


Photo - to the left of the green:

Courtesy The Bausch Collection

[Don Mahaffey]

It’s the same concern with any bunker system - how well will it hold up over time. What is the real life expectancy?


We’ve installed capillary concrete, billy bunker, bunker solutions, and other liners. 


They all work great at first, then it’s up to the Supt to protect them to gain the longest life.


The most important time to do this is during construction to assure no fines get into the liner. Most of the liner systems require sand to be put in right away, or to cover the liner. I think it’s a very good idea to grass any disturbance around the bunker right away and to get the sand in immediately. 


None of these new and expensive systems have been around that long so it’s hard to say what the life expectancy is, but they do work and even if half the pours get clogged they are still going to work very well.

[Anthony_Nysse]

It’s the same concern with any bunker system - how well will it hold up over time. What is the real life expectancy?


We’ve installed capillary concrete, billy bunker, bunker solutions, and other liners. 


They all work great at first, then it’s up to the Supt to protect them to gain the longest life.


The most important time to do this is during construction to assure no fines get into the liner. Most of the liner systems require sand to be put in right away, or to cover the liner. I think it’s a very good idea to grass any disturbance around the bunker right away and to get the sand in immediately. 


None of these new and expensive systems have been around that long so it’s hard to say what the life expectancy is, but they do work and even if half the pours get clogged they are still going to work very well.

Perfectly spoken. Many courses that installed Sand Trapper thought it was going to be the end all, be all and now, most cant wait to pull them out. Only time tells, same with all these new grasses.

[mike_malone]

 Compared to what?  The real world involves choices. Is it better than the alternatives?