Cleaning up the Tarps

Anyone who has played on courts one or two recently must have  noticed that the first two tarps for the courts have arrived, and are waiting to be deployed in the event of a flood. After the tarps arrived and were spread out to assess how they fit, we decided that storing them along the backs of courts one and two would allow for a quick rollout, and require less manpower than if they were stored in the upper parking lot.

With the tarps in place, rolled up along the center fence, each tarp can be spread out in less than ten minutes by a crew of five. It takes another few minutes to tie them to the fence posts and to each other. After the first time they are spread out, the nylon ties will remain attached to the tarps.

Several members have asked how the tarps will be cleaned of mud and debris, who will do the cleaning, and how much will the cleaning cost.

Cleaning the tarps

When the flood ends, the water will be drained from the courts leaving mud, twigs, leaves and maybe logs behind. In a short time,  the courts will dry permitting the cleanup work to begin. The initial cleanup of the large debris will require labor with brooms, shovels, and wheelbarrows. Since the work will be done on top of the Har-Tru surface, care must be taken not to damage the surface. Sharp edged tools will not be used. The cleanup of the mud can be performed using several techniques. We have investigated using golf-cart sized powered sweepers with rotary brushes to dislodge the dried mud. We will need to use brushes which will not damage the tarp material. This machine powered approach will be augmented by hand brooms, shovels, leaf blowers, and wheelbarrows.

The final cleanup may be done using water to wash off as much of the residual mud as possible. Leaf blowers, squeegees, and nature will do a final drying before the tarps are refolded.

The the southern halves of the tarps, covering courts one through seven, will be folded first to cover their northern halves. If the now exposed bottom surfaces are wet they will be dried as above, before the next folds are made, and they are rolled up against the middle fence. The northern halves of the tarps will be folded onto the southern halves for courts eight through fourteen.

If the tarps provide protection as planned, the only Har-Tru that will need further cleanup will be along the outer edges along the fences and where the tarps were tied to each other. After this, the nets can be attached and we can begin to play.

Manpower

Manpower will be needed before the flood to deploy the tarps and to secure them to the fences and to each other. A conservative estimate is that a crew of five can fully deploy two tarps in half an hour. We now have two tarps and will have four by the end of the year. Eventually we hope to have a full complement of fourteen tarps.  IHTC is compiling a list of potential volunteers who will be available to spread the tarps.

Manpower will also be needed after the flood to perform the cleanup as described above. The number of workers will be dictated by the severity of the flood. If significant debris is deposited as happened during Hurricane Irene, a contractor may have to be called to remove the large debris. The remainder of the cleanup work could be done by a combination of contractors and volunteers. After Hurricane Irene, the major portion of the work was performed by Sports Builder, Inc., who currently prepare the courts for our season openings and also do the closing work. They are under contract to have 4 courts open within ten days after a flood, weather permitting. If a sweeper/cleaner is leased, it will be transported to and removed from the club by the leaser. 

Cost

Since the planned work with the tarps has not been implemented yet, the projected costs are estimates. The worst case was the $25,000 cost incurred after Hurricane Irene when no tarps were used. This cost paid for work to clean up the mud and debris and work to remediate the Har-Tru surface. The remediation work includes supplying several tons of new Har-Tru.

We have estimated that with a full deployment of fourteen tarps, the cleanup costs will be significantly less, coming in at about $6,000. Using the tarps. the work will primarily consist of clean-up and involve little court surface remediation. Much less new Har-Tru will be needed.  With little actual court remediation the courts can be available much sooner.

Lower costs will be incurred if a smaller number of tarps are used at the time of the next flood. 

Joseph SooHoo 

The early tennis players begin to see the sun at eight in the morning, while their counterparts who play after work lose light from six o'clock on.  Shadows cover court one after five, and the falling leaves scatter over court seven.  Brown leaves, like fallen, giant butterflies litter the back seven.  But in the heat of the day, scrappy butterflies, lively as ever, land in the service court. Their brown, red and pink wings clap, as if in mirth at your efforts to hit the ball.

The strenuous, sweat-drenched days of the hot summer are mitigated, and tired players take their showers less drained, more energetic, some not as lethargic after a few sets of doubles as before.

The competitive idleness of tennis fills our days and the physical rewards and social life of our club spill from the porch into restaurants, dinner invitations, telephone chats and e-mail correspondence.

We ask Providence for good weather, and for the continuing joys of what we hope is a life-prolonging idleness.

Lois Caughey, Bob Caughey's wife 

Jerome Beal

David Delman

David Ginsberg, Jeannie Wechsler-Ginsberg's husband

Jack Fields

George McFadden

Alan Witkin, Sarah Witkin's husband