THE CERN LHC PROJECT - DESIGN AND CONSTRUCTION OF LARGE CAVERNS IN TIGHT SPACES

摘要

CERN, the European Organisation for Nuclear Research in Geneva, is one of the world's m ost p restigious research centres. Its business is fundamental physics. At CERN, some of the world's biggest and most complex machines are used to study natures smallest building blocks, the fundamental particles. Some 7000 scientists, over half the world's particle physicists, use CERN's facilities and represent 500 institutions and over 80 nationalities. This paper presents the design and construction of the new underground structures for CERN at Point 1. These structures will house the next generation of machines forming part of the Large Hadron Collider due to go on line in 2006. The large new shafts and caverns up to 35 m span must be sandwiched in between the extensive existing underground research facilities which had to remain undisturbed until the ongoing physics experiments were completed and then be integrated into the new facility. The technical challenges faced for the design and construction and the methods used to overcome them are presented along with descriptions of the monitoring systems installed to ensure that the integrity of the existing structures was not compromised. The effects of the new excavations on the existing facilities are also presented.