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UC Davis Medical Center Heliports, Sacramento, California
Owner: University of California Davis Medical Center, Sacramento, California
Architect: Hammel Green Abrahamson, Minneapolis, Minnesota (Tower II Helistop)
Contractor: Turner Construction (Interim and Life Flight Base Heliports)

The site of the existing at-grade helistop had been selected as the new site for Tower II, a 12-story addition on the east side of the main hospital building. The Medical Center needed to provide sites for both interim (during construction) and long-term helicopter operations. After weighing several options the project team decided upon a four-step program to:

1.	Construct an interim elevated aluminum helistop on top of a parking structure just west of the main hospital building
2.	Construct a remote refueling heliport for LifeFlight, the contract helicopter service provider, to base its helicopter at on a long-term basis
3.	Construct a permanent elevated helideck with two landing pads on top of the new Tower II structure
4.	Once the Tower II heliport became operational, remove the interim helistop from the parking structure and return the structure to its previous condition.

It was critical that the above steps be accomplished out in a politically sensitive manner due to neighborhood concerns regarding helicopter noise. Heliplanners assisted the entire project team, including owner, architect and the construction manager. We helped to assess alternative development schemes; designed flight paths that would meet both operational safety and neighbors' concerns, and assisted with design issues and permit processing. The new heliports are now fully approved and operational.

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