One of my buddies is in the construction business and was telling me about how he came across and worked with putting up pre fab concrete flooring for a local school.
Basically its 9 inch thick flooring that is hollow on the inside and can be cut/colored/and textured to any specs.
The cost is similar if not cheeper than pouring concrete. The reason he said it would be cheeper is that you wouldn't be paying as much for labor that you would by having the concrete poured.
He said that we could get @16 pads max at a time per flat bed delivered and just need a bobcat with the lift attachment to move them around. Of course you still need to dig out a foundation and lay sand or rock but this was an interesting alternative to the old fashoned way of pouring.
Any thoughts?

Drew

You'd still need that labor to dig and set the pads, possibly more so since now you are dealing with moving a big and heavy slab into place. Yes, the cost of the actual pad might be cheaper (doubt it) but My guess is the final cost will be more.

If they were hollow underneath, (Like a bottlecap) it might also present problems with creating a firm stable tee, as opposed to pouring directly on the earth.

Just my .02

Don't take it as criticism, Some parks would be interested in such a plan.

You might be buying more concrete than you need if they are nine inches thick. Compare the cost to using 12 inch square pavers on slag. The paver tees at Lemon Lake look really cool.

We are making our own pre-cast blocks for modular tees at Seneca Creek. One 80lb bag of sakrete makes a block about 2" thick and 24" square and costs about $3-4 bucks. Our tees are generally 4'x14' (2 blocks wide/ seven long) for a total cost in concrete of around $60.

We set them in a bed of stone dust for leveling - and build a box around them when necessary - but the park likes them for their flexibility. If you don't like the tee location - they are easily moved (i.e. some parks dept's shy away from concrete due to their "perceived permanence"). If the tee location is in an area where it's tough to get equipment to - they are easily carried in. Another plus with these blocks is that you can apply a heavy "non slip" texture very easily - a feature seldom available in commercially available precast products.

We are making our own pre-cast blocks for modular tees at Seneca Creek. One 80lb bag of sakrete makes a block about 2" thick and 24" square and costs about $3-4 bucks. Our tees are generally 4'x14' (2 blocks wide/ seven long) for a total cost in concrete of around $60.

We set them in a bed of stone dust for leveling - and build a box around them when necessary - but the park likes them for their flexibility. If you don't like the tee location - they are easily moved (i.e. some parks dept's shy away from concrete due to their "perceived permanence"). If the tee location is in an area where it's tough to get equipment to - they are easily carried in. Another plus with these blocks is that you can apply a heavy "non slip" texture very easily - a feature seldom available in commercially available precast products.



Hmm, I kind of like the sound of these. Our course is in a pretty hilly and woodsy location where pulling in a truck or even a bobcat isn't really feasible. I like the idea of hauling in a bunch of pre-fab blocks better than hauling in bags of concrete, water, wheelbarrow, etc. I wonder though, do you have issues with the blocks becoming uneven over time? Or are there any other disadvantages that come up?

Actually, if you do the prep work well, and compact both the subgrade, and the stone dust setting bed - settling is minimal or non existent. However - and here's the beauty of these tees - if the blocks do move or settle - they are quite easy to reset/re-level. One guy with a bucket of stone dust can fix a tee in under an hour. Also - if you don't like where the tee is - you can pick the whole thing up and move it!!

The best way to install a tee like this is to build a box (landscape timbers or pressure treated lumber) to contain the stone dust - and then to make sure the stone dust comes up close to the top of the blocks (meaning grade around the tee should be flush or close to it). This will result in the least amount of movement or settlement over time.

Drew, check out AJ Jolly park in Alexandria, KY (Cincinnati area). Those are pre-fabs that were simply set on top of the ground. A few had to be dug out a bit for leveling, but most were just set on the ground. I think they're 4x10, and I think the cost was $60 each delivered. They came with rebar loops on top so they could be moved easily. The parks used a bobcat to place them & Fred Salaz used a grinder to take the rebar off. They work great!

Do you believe that these could be made like these pervious concrete tee boxes. (http://www.cityofkyle.com/parks/steeplechasediscgolf.htm) .