CERN - High Luminosity Large Hadron Collider (LHC) project

New structures at Point 5. Underground works, tunnelling.

Project

The Large Hadron Collider (LHC) project consists of a 27 km circular tunnel with eight sites positioned around the tunnel’s circumference. Point 5, located in France, is one of the largest sites composed by a very large experimental cavern as well as a large adjacent service cavern, multiple large diameter shafts and various interconnecting tunnels. Excavation principally in weak sedimentary rock (molasse). The project consists of the construction of various new structures: surface works, roads, buildings, an underground cavern and a tunnel network.

Technical data

• New shaft H = 80 m, Ø 10.5 m
• Cryogenic cavern L = 50 m, S = 300 m2 including pressurized rooms and cryogenic, power and ventilation connections between the tunnels and the building topside
• Power converter gallery L = 300 m housing transformers, ducts and electrical and fibre optic cables
• 4 service tunnels S = 50 m2, L = 50 m
• 5 vertical linkage cores to existing LHC infrastructure Ø 1.0 m, L = 5.5 m
• Escape tunnel L = 50 m
• Buildings for shaft access
• Main buildings to house the machinery

Costs

About EUR 65,000,000

Timeline

2016–2024

Clients

CERN (European Organization for Nuclear Research), Geneva (CH)

Services

• Design
• Tender design
• Detailed design for execution
• Construction management

Consortium

• Lombardi
• Pini Group
• Artelia