An arena how much/advice/ideas

I_A_P

I_A_P

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we dad did mention about maybe building an arena which would be around the 20 x 40m mark.
He would basically be able to do all groundwork himself and most probably drainage as hes very handy with a digger, and the ground where it would be put is actually quite good and dry cmpared to say our field.
We would probably do as much as we could, and i guess a lot of the cost involved would be ths surface (probably a sand and rubber mix)
just wanted a rough idea on cost-or any advice you may have on arenas...anything would be useful.

Its only a thought atm not a definate.
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My main advice is to get the drainage done extremely well. Our arena has drains the full length filled with stone, then terram (fantastic stuff), then 9 inches of stone, then terram (sp?), then 5 inches of silica sand and then 3 inches of Spring-Tek rubber. This is the same surface as a well known EC down the road. For our 60 x 40m the surface was £18k.
 
thanks for your advice
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the planning hasnt really been mentioned as yet-i need to really try and get dad going if we are going to build it...we did speak about planning before and he didnt think it would be a problem i do believe.

the drainage is definatly something that would not be scimped on
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i just desperatly need something to ride on really as we have nothing around here now without traveling
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Ours hasn't got any drains as it was a very dry area to start with, but it has got a fair old fall on it towards one corner. You don't notice it when riding.
You have to use big stone and an industrial whacker machine once they're laid, then the membrane is vital, it stops the stones working their way up which they do over time without one. The membrane needs to be glued or stitched where it meets and fastened under the sides by the sleepers. (they are an expensive item sleepers)
The surface we used was our old indoor school surface of silica sand and rubber, then padstow sea sand plus more rubber. It rides superbly, and the padstow sand was half the price of silica. I'm not a fan of silica despite all the hype about how sand is made of straight sided grains etc which need to be strangely enough the most expensive sort you can get!!!
I wanted to replicate the feel of the beach with some bounce, and that's what ours tends to be like. Never deep and needs very little maintanance, just levelling and digging round the sides every now and then.
I think ours worked out at about £13000 for a 20 x 60, we had a chap living in one of the cottages do the ground works, and my husband over saw it all.
The arena has taken some really bad rain and all that happens is it pours out of one corner, we plan on installing a drain across that gateway to direct it into our pond, other than that it's perfect.
The biggest cost involved I think was the stone..
 
agree with henryhorn, you don't need drains if it is a well-draining area. if it's clay, you definitely do though.
you need a base membrane to stop the stones disappearing into the soil. i, too, spent a fortune on stone, but it's worth it, building up a huge area which will let the water drain away from the surface. mine's a minimum of a foot thick, a bit more in some places to get the top absolutely level. (a laser level is pretty much vital!) compacting the stone with a vibrating roller isn't a bad job (did a lot of it myself), then membrane again (i overlapped mine 50cm and secured with cable ties every couple of feet), then i have silica sand + springride rubber.
can't agree with hh about the sand though - you really do need to splash out on good sand, twice-washed ideally, with sub-angular particles.
to check if a sand sample is clean enough put 1" or so in a jamjar with water topping it up, shake well, leave to settle. clean stuff will have just sand and water, a few particles on top of sand. dirty stuff will have a big layer of silt on top of sand. this is what will wash off and clog up your membrane and make your arena fail.
was in Dubai recently and the desert sand there is the wrong type, it is totally exhausting to walk up a dune of only about 6 foot high, because the sand just rolls and moves underfoot, doesn't hold together at all. went from there to Maldives which has the right type of sand, and it just totally holds together (even when dry) - would be perfect arena sand! really illustrated to me and boyfriend about the different types of sand. (and just HOW tragic is that?!)
 
thanks veyr much-i will save your advice somewhere as its very helpful
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i think in a lot of ways im lucky as dad can most probably do a lot of the work himself (with my help as well obviously!) so the cost does seem to just be down to materials....one arena we have locally is exactly what i would be wanting really.....after the heaviest of rain there are a few puddles..but not to the extent you can not ride in it...and they would be minimised if it was levelled more often.
so that is the arena i think we could get some ideas from.....and i do believe that they do not have a membrane.
 
thanks
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dad has quite a few contacts which may well be helpful, and he also knows someone well who has built some massive arenas so could probably hire extra equipment/get some pointers from him.

i really hope he isnt all talk though as im excited now!!
 
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