Horse racecourse area
in Verden

4th August 2020: Three new riding arenas are currently being built on the racecourse in Verden, which will be used for international tournaments. The company Bohlmann Reitböden is currently realizing this exciting project with us as partner and automation specialist. Bohlmann Reitböden was responsible for the construction of the new tournament arenas and the laying of the irrigation pipes for the nationwide unique system of drip irrigation in connection with the WaCoNA control system. In a very short implementation time, the ground was prepared, the grids with the integrated drip pipes for the underfloor irrigation were laid by hand and connected to the system. A special sand mixture was laid. On a total area of almost 160,000 ft² (15.000 m²) all 8 inches (20 cm) irrigation pipes of the irrigation system HIT Active-Aqua are running.

For this project NORKA Automation took over the complete control system of the irrigation with the WaCoNA system, which is a part of SmartStable^® and exclusively available from the company Bohlmann Reitböden. We delivered two fully wired and heatable IP65 control cabinets and three IP54 valve cabinets – all as outdoor cabinets – and installed them on site together with Bohlmann Reitböden. The algorithms developed by us control a total of 19 irrigation circuits via 19 solenoid valves for irrigation and 19 ball valves for dewatering. On each of the three differently sized jumping and dressage arenas, the soil moisture can be regulated, individually adjusted and customized one by one parametrically. Furthermore, we will install a weather station on the area of the racecourse. The live weather data will be integrated and included in the irrigation behavior of the system.

Our WaCoNA system controls the main water pump, regulates the riding surface moisture, detects leaks and blockages in the irrigation system and – in case of ground frost – fully automatically drains the water pipes to protect against damages due to freezing. In case of a misfunction, a corresponding notification will be automatically sent to the operator. With a built-in remote maintenance module, maintenance work and the continuous optimization of the automation algorithms can be realized by us.

The project is already in the final phase and will be completed shortly. The Hannoveraner Springpferde-Championats will inaugurate the unique riding surfaces with our WaCoNA system on the newly designed arenas on 10th and 11th August 2020 as a part of the Hanoverian Jumping Horse Championships. We will be on site on these event days and will be available for your questions.

Picture source: The header picture and the corresponding marked pictures were provided by the company Bohlmann Reitböden with friendly permission.