The new stadium will house a pioneering new pitch

The pitch will have plastic grass reinforcements to strengthen the playing surface and provide improved playing conditions.

It will be able to suck moisture away from the surface and blow air underneath to keep it aerated.

A similar pitch has been constructed at Arsenal's training ground and at Norwich City's training base.

The stadium looks fantastic Gerald Clement, Swansea Council

The 20,000 all-seater football and rugby arena is being built on former industrial waste ground at Landore.

Although work has only recently started on the pitch - which will need to stand up to the rigours of both football and rugby for nine months of the year - the majority of the 20,280 black and white seats are in place.

Work has already started on digging drainage trenches, and then a geo-textile membrane will be put in place before drainage pipes are laid.

Plastic grass reinforcements will be inserted before the pitch is seeded. As the grass grows, the roots will wrap around the plastic inserts which will hold the pitch together more firmly than a normal pitch.

The stadium, being developed by Swansea Council, will be home to the Ospreys regional rugby team and Swansea City when it opens for the 2005/6 season.

It is the first purpose-built football and rugby stadium in the country.

Gerald Clement from Swansea Council said he believes the new pitch will be able to withstand "more wear and tear than most other pitches in Wales".

"The stadium looks fantastic. It has already become a major landmark for the city and the region," he said.

"It is now in the transition between a construction site and a state-of-the-art sport and leisure facility.