Tunnel UR15
At the FIDIC* Contract Users' Awards Ceremony 2021, the consortium ORIGIN, of which CSD ENGINEERS (Switzerland) is a member, won the "Consultant of the year" award for the High Luminosity LHC project.
An upgrade of the LHC
Since 2016, CERN has been undertaking work on the LHC, the particle accelerator built in a 27 km circumference tunnel under the French-Swiss border near Geneva. The LHC needs an upgrade to increase the luminosity, in other words the rate at which particles collide. This will enable more precise measurements to be made and rare phenomena to be observed that can only occur at a higher sensitivity level than before.
Specialists for the design and monitoring of this complex project
The work of the consortium ORIGIN, of which CSD ENGINEERS (Switzerland) is a member, mainly involves a 100 meters deep shaft with a diameter of 12 meters, galleries and caverns, as well as several technical surface buildings. In view of the complexity of the project, CSD contributed through its expertise in tunnels, buildings, the environment and the coordination of major projects during the design, authorization, tender and execution phases.
Tight deadlines, highly sensitive equipment
Such a project naturally involves a number of challenges, the biggest of which is time. The LHC has been deactivated for two years so that it is not exposed to vibrations that could damage the various parts of the machine. More than 12,000 scientists have already requested the opportunity to perform experiments with the upgraded particle accelerator as soon as the work is completed.
An alliance of the best European engineering companies to win this international consultation
During the international call for tenders launched by CERN, the best European firms tried their luck. CSD ENGINEERS (Switzerland) teamed up with SETEC (France) for the infrastructure and ROCKSOIL (Italy), a specialist in tunnel excavation, to form the consortium ORIGIN, which submitted the best proposal and won this prestigious and coveted contract.
* FIDIC: International Federation of Consulting Engineers. FIDIC awards an annual prize that highlights, among other things, examples of good collaborative practice from around the world.
