The Engineering behind Launch of World’s Largest Particle Accelerator

15 September 2008

Scientists are attempting to find the answers of the universe by switching on the Large Hadron Collidor (LHC) in Switzerland and forcing atomic particles to collide near to the speed of light, re-creating the conditions of the big bang.

None of this would have been possible without the expertise of the engineers who worked for years to design and build a series of caverns to house the detectors and laboratories to facilitate the experiments. Scott Wilson, in a joint venture with EDF of France, was responsible for the detailed design and construction supervision of the civil engineering works for the largest cavern, thought to be the world’s largest underground cavern in weak rock.

The team’s award-winning work on the project required some innovative engineering. The underground structures are located close to the existing Large Electron Positron (LEP) accelerator’s (LHC’s predecessor) tunnels and caverns, which were in use during the first phase of construction. This required the team to build the roof before the floors and walls. It was hung from tension anchors from adits until the ring ceased operation and excavation could continue through the ring tunnel. This condition continued until the floor and walls were ready and the anchors could be relaxed.

Located under Geneva in Switzerland, the largest cavern houses one of the detectors and is 85m long, has a 30m span and is 34m in height. The ground at the site is predominantly made up of soft sandstone and marl, posing less than ideal conditions for construction and which created an additional engineering challenge.

Tony Miller, Scott Wilson Technical Director, comments, “Scott Wilson and EDF worked on the LHC for six years and it was a complex project. Initially having to work simultaneously with the previous scientific experiments while the ring was still operating, the construction design process was reviewed and revised accordingly. Having overcome such technical challenges, it is gratifying to see this innovative project in action.”

The client, the European Organisation for Nuclear Research, or CERN, has now successfully begun its new phase of pioneering research.

For press enquiries, please contact Rachel Brierley on +44 (0)20 7821 4166 or email rachel.brierley@scottwilson.com