FAIR ahead: Construc­tion work for the “Universe in the Laboratory” is progressing

This new particle accelerator is being built on an area of 20 hectares. Around 600,000 m³ of concrete will be used over the coming years and the same volume of soil will be moved that would be shifted to build 5,000 private homes. The construc­tion of the new ring accelerator will also require 65,000 tons of steel, roughly equivalent to the weight of nine Eiffel towers.

The 1.1-km-long ring tunnel will be built in sections. The building ground is already stabilised with 1,350 concrete piles. CDM Smith is providing all geot­ech­ni­cal, consulting and planning services for the foundation of the project and also supervising the execution of the work on site. A combined pile slab foundation is planned for all buildings, except for the ring, itself.

The first section of the first excavation pit has just been handed over to the shell builder. In the coming weeks, the shell builder will begin to install the lightning protection and the protective layer before production of the base plate can begin.

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