(Washington, DC) – The Department of General Services (DGS) has completed its annual GMAX tests on the District’s portfolio of synthetic turf fields and has determined those fields that required minor repairs and have reopened as of June 28 and those that require further maintenance.
G-MAX testing is a surface hardness impact test and is the most commonly used standard set by the American Society for Testing and Materials (ASTM) International which established a G-MAX value of 200 for the maximum allowable limit for safety. G-MAX is a stringent test method which scores 10 high-use areas on each field. A single score of more than 200 at any of the District’s synthetic field locations can indicate the field requires remediation per ASTM standards. Remediation of fields can range from providing minor infill top-off to providing sectional replacements.
As of Friday, June 28, 56 District fields were tested. Fifteen of these were previously reported by the agency as requiring additional maintenance. Of these 15, six have passed a secondary third-party GMAX test and are now reopened for use. These fields are: Deal Middle School, Emery Recreation Center, Riggs LaSalle Recreation Center Baseball Field, Riggs LaSalle Recreation Center Football Field, Joseph Cole Recreation Center and Noyes Elementary School. Two fields - Stanton Elementary School and Deanwood Recreation Center reported as open will remain open for leisure and non-contact sports. They will receive additional maintenance on Sunday, June 30.
The remaining seven of the 15 fields needing maintenance are in need of extensive repair. Palisades Recreation Center will be open July 4th for walking and non-contact sports for the Annual Palisades 4th of July Picnic. It will go offline on July 5th for scheduled replacement and will be ready for use at the start of the 2019-2020 school year. Horace Mann Elementary School field and Roosevelt Senior High School field will remain offline and are also slated for replacement and will be ready for use at the start of the 2019-2020 school year. Jelleff Recreation Center is scheduled to re-open July 19th. Turf fields at Park View Recreation Center, Tubman Elementary School and Upshur Recreation Center will remain closed as further repairs are needed. DGS will provide the community with updates on these fields as soon as repair plans are finalized.
DGS continues to work with agency partners at DC Public Schools (DCPS) and the Department of Parks and Recreation (DPR) so that they may advise field users and permit holders of the current status of the impacted fields and will advise its partners and the public when final field re-openings occur.
View more information on the District’s G-MAX impact testing status