Irrigation changes at the National Mall

Photo courtesy of Irrigation Consultants

With more than 25 million visitors and 3,000 events every year, the National Mall turf takes a beating. And after years of heavy use, one of the nation’s most iconic green spaces needed an overhaul. But this wasn’t going to be your average irrigation job.

Spanning three years of planning, four years of construction and covering more than 300 acres of turf, it was a big undertaking, but there were additional challenges to overcome to renovate the irrigation system.

“The word they liked to use is ‘compromised,’” says Brian Vinchesi, president of Irrigation Consulting. “It really didn’t work at all.”

The Mall irrigation system had hundreds of holes from tent stakes and compacted soil. The historic landmark designation meant that nothing new could be built on the grounds. On top of that, the National Park Service wanted to reduce the amount of potable water used for three main reasons.

“One, it’s very expensive, two, they wanted to be sustainable and three, there’s a big move in D.C. to reduce stormwater going into the Potomac,” Vinchesi says.

Read the full story from the April issue here.