Sunbelt Rentals' Xtension™ Door Becomes Hero for Coast Guard

The Challenge

When you think of a hero, what comes to mind?

The servicemen and women in the U.S. military might be on your list. When our military heroes need to respond to a crisis, they don’t have time to wonder if everything is going to work properly. They count on the equipment that helps them save lives to function without fail.

The U.S. Coast Guard stays busy year-round flying critical life-saving missions. When lives are on the line, teams need to be able to assemble and deploy at a moment’s notice. The machines and equipment they rely on must always be “standing ready” to allow them to act quickly when it matters most.

The Coast Guard maintains a fleet of helicopters at a centrally located naval air station. This central location enables the helicopter fleet to conduct emergency search-and-rescue missions and other critical initiatives up and down the Gulf Coast.

So, when the time came for the naval base to update their airplane hangers, originally built circa WWII, the question of where to stage the helicopters until renovations were complete became an urgent matter.

The Coast Guard immediately contacted  Sunbelt Rentals Fabric Structures to partner on this project. Why? They knew we understand – and are experts in – what it takes to design and build a temporary structure capable of housing an active aviation team.

The semi-permanent structure the Coast Guard requested presented several unique challenges. The most critical was the need to replicate and replace the emergency-rescue helicopter team’s permanent hangar.

The size of the helicopters meant the instant structure had to meet specific design-dimension requirements. This massive instant structure also had to withstand wind loads of over 150 mph (that’s the equivalent to nearly a Category-5 major hurricane).

Additionally, the structure needed to:

o Remain on site for approximately a year

o Anchor to an existing hangar pad

o Incorporate a translucent skylight within the roof of the membrane structure

o Conform to the exacting guidelines of military engineers

Another must-have for this project? It had to support the client’s need to deploy FAST. To that end,  Sunbelt Rentals Xtension™ door became a hero of this project.

The Solution

Led by Project Manager Joe Berger, Sunbelt Rentals stepped up to challenge with an innovative solution featuring a  Sunbelt Rentals Tension Series (MTS) instant structure outfitted with a Sunbelt Rentals Xtension™ door.

Sunbelt Rentals' reputation is one of fulfilling clients’ needs for designs that meet or exceed even the most stringent demands. And we are no strangers to the details and requirements that come with aviation or military projects. Our past performances, experience, and extensive product inventory meant that our team could quickly identify the best possible open-ended solution that incorporated the existing pad and met the wind-resistance requirements, ensuring the completed structure was ready for the important task of facilitating emergency rescue.

Once the client approval process was complete, our team moved all materials and equipment to the site and completed the structure within the agreed-upon six-week timeline.

Sunbelt Rentals' solution included the following features:

• 100’ x 135’ – Clear span tent
• Aluminum box beamed frame
• PVC fabric membrane
• Translucent fabric skylight in roof membrane
• Anchoring solutions
• A retractable
• Expert project managers, designers and an expert installation team

Sunbelt Rentals' Xtension Hangar Door

In an emergency, every minute counts. For an emergency-rescue vehicle hangar, immediate access is the most important door requirement. In this case, the door needed to open quickly to allow the Coast Guard team to deploy at a moment’s notice. The fully retractable Xtension fabric hangar door was the perfect solution.

The Xtension door installed at the base of the structure measured 100 feet wide. The fully retractable fabric door included an electronically controlled winch and pulley system. Best of all, this fabric door provided our client with an easy-to-use solution to quickly get helicopters in an out of the structure. See for yourself in the video:

The Result

With Sunbelt Rentals' help, the Coast Guard’s rescue choppers are ready for action and are safely housed in the home-base temporary hangar. Thanks to the engineered MTS Model Tension Series structure and the unique capabilities of the Xtension™ hangar door – mission accomplished!

The Takeaways

Organizations like the Coast Guard can’t slow down for renovations, and neither can your business.

Unique and innovative temporary structures offer long-term and short-terms solutions that help organizations of all types stay on track when challenges arise.

Related Learning Center Blogs

 Sunbelt Rentals Doors: Design & Deploy Part 1

 Sunbelt Rentals Doors: Design & Deploy Part 2

Would you like to learn more about innovative solutions for your business? The sky’s the limit! Contact us today to talk about the possibilities.