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Transforming the legendary high banks of Bristol Motor Speedway into a 124,000-square-feet baseball field is no easy feat. But for Jerran Owens, survey manager at Baker’s Construction Services (BCS), it’s a challenge his team has met before — and one they were uniquely prepared for, thanks to their deep experience with
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BCS was tasked with converting the speedway oval into a professional-grade ballfield for a recent nationally broadcast baseball game. The project, which involved importing and precisely grading immense quantities of stone and soil, demanded a level of accuracy that most jobs simply don't. According to Owens, the top layer had to be a quarter-inch, which meant the machines had to be ultra-precise or they would go into previous layers of material, which could not happen. In total, the BCS team brought in a massive 19,000 tons of gravel in the span of a week in order to create a level playing field.
To meet these strict specifications, BCS relied heavily on its Trimble machine control and guidance systems. While initial rough grading was handled by GNSS-enabled machines, the high grandstands and surrounding buildings at Bristol created signal challenges. As Owens explained, the bleachers and large screen — a four-sided video board called the “Colossus” that hung 180 feet over the speedway’s infield — caused issues with GNSS. Having learned from past projects such as the Bristol dirt track conversion and the Atlanta Motor Speedway, BCS knew that Trimble universal total stations (UTS) were the only way to achieve the required precision.
BCS deployed a full suite of Trimble solutions. Three total stations were used simultaneously — two tracking machines and one for grade checking. This allowed for seamless, continuous operation, with a motor grader handling the wide-open infield and outfield and a compact track loader with a grader blade attachment navigating the tight spaces around home plate and the foul poles. The models were built in-house using Trimble Business Center software; the machines were running Trimble Earthworks for real-time adjustments and grade control, as well as Trimble Siteworks for grade checking and as-built data.
“We use technology all the time, and we don’t go anywhere without it,” said Owens. “It only makes a good operator better.” This commitment to technology paid off, allowing BCS to complete the bulk of the project a week ahead of schedule. The seamless support from SITECH Mid-South ensured that BCS's new Trimble-equipped machines were ready to go from the first day of construction, providing a powerful combination of skilled operators and cutting-edge technology to turn an iconic racetrack into a big-league ballfield.
The project took 32 days to complete, and approximately 15 days to dismantle.
The gravel was topped by a shock-absorbing pad located under 124,000 square feet of artificial turf.
More than 300 tons of clay were used to create the basepaths and mounds.
A total of 415 extra lighting fixtures were installed.
