Closing gaps in sporting activity surfaces

摘要

An apparatus and method for releasably closing a fixed gap in an activity surface, such as a turfed racetrack 154, comprises a movable tray 158 whose upper surface has the same characteristics as the activity surface and means for guiding the tray with a wedging action into the gap, thus providing a uniform surface throughout. The wedging action can be vertical under the weight of the tray and/or horizontally driven to form a pressure joint maintaining the contact surfaces in the gap, generally with complimentary inclined surfaces to assist in location and formation of the joint. More than one tray can be used to close a gap from one or both sides, and the guide rails 160 for the tray can be straight or curved, eg as in Figure 7 where the mechanism is used to provide a reconfigurable racetrack crossing at the intersection point of road 156 with the racetrack; in this example, the tray when not in use is parked well away from both the road and the track.