Cape Fear Valley Medical Center Rooftop Helipad

The Cape Fear Valley Health Medical Center is a state of the art healthcare facility serving Fayetteville, North Carolina, and the surrounding areas. In order to facilitate emergency helicopter intakes and maintain patient wellbeing, CDM Stravitec was hired to isolate the hospital helideck.

Requiring precise engineering, CDM Stravitec utilized our Stravibase SpringBox to ensure that the helideck was isolated from the rest of the structure, ensuring that vibrations from helicopter landings will not be transferred to the delicate equipment and patients in the hospital.

The design stage involved the analysis of the relevant information, involving several specialities, such as Acoustics (for sources of vibration and acoustic performance requirements), Heliport Design (for the type of aircraft, MTOW, number of supports, static and dynamic loads) and Structural (for the types of connections to the existing building structure).

A collaborative effort between CDM Stravitec and the helideck supplier led the design through a progressive and iterative process where a final design that responded to the strong acoustical requirements and the complex nature of a fully functional and integrated lightweight helideck. Along with the design, compromises were made to ensure that acoustic and structural performance requirements were met. The solution delivered was a prefabricated box that could easily be installed on-site, and comprising the necessary components, such as springs and uplift restraints, to deal with the challenging aspects of isolating lightweight helidecks.

 

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This technical paper explores the vibration isolation strategy implemented for the rooftop helipad at Cape Fear Valley Medical Center.  Read a detailed account of the modeling, analysis, and installation of CDM Stravitec’s elastomer-based isolation system, designed to mitigate structure-borne noise and vibration generated during helicopter takeoff and landing.

Developed in collaboration with acoustical consultants and structural engineers, the study highlights how an engineered floating system—featuring resilient bearings tailored to building geometry and load conditions—ensured acoustic comfort within sensitive interior spaces directly below the helipad. The isolation system required a series of rigorous stability checks under diverse load conditions. A particular challenge was managing differential deflection during different phases, such as the helicopter approach and landing.

Read the full technical paper published by ASA POMA to explore the methodology, simulation techniques, and design considerations that made this rooftop landing zone a functional and acoustically successful addition to the hospital campus