PEX+ tubing was installed before the helipad’s cement surface was poured. A glycol mix solution runs through the radiant tubing to provide hydronic snow melting. The pad’s design included several areas that would not have any tubing— as they were left open to the space below. This would ensure that in case of a crash landing or ruptured fuel tank, the fuel could drain away, avoiding an explosion. “The helipad juts out from the side of the hospital,” continued Yates. “Its nearly 40-foot elevation means that it’s exposed to the wind and weather— which meant that snow and ice were sure to collect there, if not for the warmth within the pad. “The biggest challenge was wrestling with three-quarter-inch RadiantPEX+ in subzero weather,” continued Yates. Yates and his crew found the formula for getting the job done quickly was to wire the tubing to rebar. This required three people: one person to lay the tubing out, one to wire it to the rebar and one to stand on the cold-hardened tubing. They used a motorized wire tie tool to save time, which performed triple wrap twists and cutoffs in less than a second. Candid camera “One of the fun parts of installing the snowmelt was the audience we had,” said Yates. “The Watts tubing is bright orange. We were installing it right outside of the hospital with airborne snow swirling all around us. We could glance up at any time and see lots of people from different windows and floors watching what we were doing. “Another design challenge was created by the manifolds for the helipad, which needed to be installed inside of the loop area. Ordinarily, manifolds are off to the side in snow melting systems and termination points come straight out,” explained Yates. However, because of the bump-out areas for sidewalks around the pad and certain areas not getting snowmelt for emergency fuel drainage, the tubing had to be installed—and terminated—at different angles. At times, Yates only had five inches of space to work with. Where the hospital’s old off-site helipad used to be, a new entrance and access road are being built, completely heated with snowmelt. The access road won’t be complete until later, because it needs to be accessible at all times—it has to be built in two phases. Phase one of the new access road is complete, along with the completion of a new 12-rig ambulance bay, completely heated with snowmelt. In all, 11 miles of three-quarter-inch Watts Radiant RadiantPEX+ with the same 50% glycol mix will have been installed during both phases of the access road and the ambulance bay. That’s a lot of work, and PEX, and glycol solution, but the team was equally as tough—just tough enough to battle the worst that Mother Nature could pitch at them in a wintry tantrum. “The hospital is now entering the system’s second year of operation,” said Yates. “But this winter, as we complete the last remaining few miles of PEX installation, we get satisfaction when we see a bird coming in for landing, knowing that the new helipad will provide a safe and swift landing and the patient on board is about to receive the best care possible.” “The ‘birds’ come in swift and safe. With each one, another patient has a much better chance of living a longer, healthier life,” he concluded. “You can’t ask for much more than that.” ICM ICM/September/October 2016 17
ICM September-October 2016
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