Today marks the 5th Anniversary of the ESS Groundbreak!
Let's take the occasion to look how far we've come.....
Target
Construction of the Target Station commenced in the spring of 2016. 8 500 tonnes of reinforcement and more than 32 000 m3 of concrete later, we are now busy with the superstructure on high bay level. Concrete works for the entire target area are scheduled for completion in November 2019.
The Target Building and Experimental Halls rest securely on a significant number of piles, driven down into the bedrock over the years:
- Concrete Piles: 6 077
- Bored Piles: 62
- Steel Core Piles: 458
- RD Piles: 259
Experimental Halls: Concrete works for the Experimental Hall Buildings were completed in March 2017, and superstructure erection started in August 2017. Handover of Experimental Hall 3, Beamline Gallery part 1, and the Substation was completed on 15 August 2019. Finishing works, interior works and final inspections of the lab buildings are ongoing, in preparation for handover to ESS in December 2019.
In Experimental Halls 1 & 2, the base slabs are now completed with the last slab cast this week. To complete the superstructure, 360 tonnes of steel will be erected for Hall 1, and 300 tonnes for Hall 2.
Accelerator
The 537m long, in-situ cast tunnel was the first major building to reach structural completion and was handed over to ESS in May 2017. The tunnel's first base slab was cast in November 2014 and the last top slab in April 2016.
Construction of the tunnel included 456 separate casting sessions, using 16 500 m3 of concrete.
ESS's accelerator machine installations are still ongoing. The Ion source & LEBT were delivered in December 2017, the Medium Energy Beam Transport (MEBT) in June 2019, followed by the Radio Frequency Quadrupole (RFQ) in August. The first Drift Tube Linac (DTL) tank is scheduled for delivery in October.
Civil Works to date
Water & sewage piping: 39 km of permanent, 13 km of temporary
Ducting: 60 km of permanent, 42 km of temporary
Process piping: 12.7 km
Wells for the water & sewage system: 1 050
Retaining wall installed: 1 950 metres (incl. for Active Cells, HEBT, fire exits and Front End Building - here 3.2-4.5 metres high!)
Meaning 167 km of pipes in total have been laid on the construction site!
Take a look at a selection of photos over the last five years.....impressive progress!
