HOSPITAL CASE STUDY
UCHealth Memorial Hospital Central, restored beneath the helipad.
Key sections of this Colorado Springs hospital had gone more than five years without a window cleaning, with no roof anchors and the hardest glass beneath an active medevac helipad. In two days our aircraft restored the glass no crew could reach, with a rope access team and a ground crew on the rest.
THE JOB
The job at a glance.
- Client
- UCHealth
- Venue
- Memorial Hospital Central, Colorado Springs, Colorado
- Areas cleaned
- Windows
- The challenge
- Glass with no safe access, near an active helipad
- Our solution
- A restoration clean, with helipad traffic monitoring
- Operation Height
- 80 ft
- Dirt Buildup
- 5+ yrs.
- Project Time
- 2 Days
The height we cleaned, the years of buildup we took off and the days the whole facility took.
THE CHALLENGE
No anchors, a roofline net and a helipad above.
Key sections of the hospital's exterior had gone more than five years without a window cleaning. Those sections had no roof anchors, so rope drops were impossible there, and a safety net reaching about eight feet out around the roofline kept any crew away from the edge.
The most demanding glass sat directly beneath the LifeLine helicopter team's active helipad, with medevac flights around the clock. Below the work ran some of the hospital's heaviest foot traffic, including an active valet lane.
And the glass had baked. Facing direct sun most of the day, it carried years of mineral deposits, the kind of buildup that usually takes hands-on restoration, not a standard wash.
OUR SOLUTION
A restoration clean, flown slow.
A standard pass was not going to be enough, so we ran a full restoration clean: hot water, higher pressure than a maintenance wash and a stronger solution mix, delivered from the drone at precise, controlled angles.
Our pilots flew much slower than normal and made multiple passes over every section of glass, giving the heated, deionized water and the cleaning solution time to lift years of mineral scale without damaging the surface.
The aircraft reached every angle of the facade, including the glass beneath the roofline net and alongside the helipad that no rope crew could reach. A rope access team took the sections a traditional descent could reach, and a ground crew covered the lower levels and the lobby's interior windows, so every pane across the complex was addressed in a single mobilization.
AROUND A WORKING HOSPITAL
Planned around the helipad.
PRE-FLIGHT
Plan for the helicopter
Before the first flight, a formal safety plan set out exact procedures for any inbound helicopter.
IN THE AIR
Stay on the radio
We kept constant radio contact with the LifeLine team, and a dedicated team member monitored air traffic radio in real time through the whole operation.
ON THE GROUND
Hold the perimeter
Crew members on the ground coordinated pedestrians and valet traffic continuously, keeping a safe perimeter below the entire work zone.
Our standard procedures, by name, and the plan behind every flight. Safety and compliance
THE RESULTS
Spotless, after five years of scale.
Windows that had not seen a cleaning crew in more than five years, baked by direct sun and coated in heavy mineral scale, came out spotless, with a finish that rivaled hands-on glass restoration.
The areas around the LifeLine helipad, once considered out of reach, were cleaned safely.
The restoration method took twice the time of a standard cleaning run, and it was worth it: in many areas the glass looked like it had just been installed.
No safe way to reach your glass?
Tell us what stands in the way, from missing anchors to a helipad or a busy drive below, and a project manager comes back with questions, then a plan.
REQUEST A QUOTE
Tell us about the building.
Send your building details. A project manager will follow up with questions, then a plan.
Or reach us directly+1 (866) 838-1555info@trydronewash.com