ESS Target Division has gained parallel access to level 090 of the Monolith, where the installation of R6 brackets is ongoing, as well as level 090 and 100 of the Utility Building, where piping installations are ongoing. Large tanks - 3 metres in diameter and weighing 1.2 tonnes each - will be lowered this week via one of the hatches.
Commissioning, including test lifts with overweight, has been performed on the 65-tonne temporary high bay crane, which is now being used to lift heavy items and equipment up onto the high bay level. In fact, this will be used to lower ESS equipment into the Utility Building – including large and small tanks, pumps and a significant amount of piping!
Interior painting continues inside the Target Building, and internal seals are being fitted to all expansion joints separating the different building parts. Rack rooms inside the Technical Gallery have been fitted with lightweight walls, to be followed by aluminium sheets for the internal roof, and technical floors (a.k.a. raised floors) are being prepared for future installations.
The superstructure for Experimental Hall 1 is progressing on a daily basis out on site, with a row of steel in place along the outer wall of the future instrument hall. The roof trusses on this side of the building will be an impressive 52 metres long! Roof trusses are already being installed on the north side of the Target Building for Experimental Hall 2. Approximately six roof trusses are now in place, complete with diagonal steel bars.
The second phase of NMX cave construction started as planned last week. C3C, ESS cave construction partner, are on site erecting precast concrete walls, starting with the lower rows. These concrete elements are assembled, then fixed in place.
Accelerator
Cable pulling and cable terminations are nearing completion for the RFQ (Radio Frequency Quadrupole) and MEBT (Medium Energy Beam Transport) areas, and is continuing in the DTL (Drift Tube Linac) area. The sockets installed will later be connected to the machine parts of the Accelerator. Installation of a helium collector pipe is ongoing in the CTL (Cryo Transfer Line) Gallery, which connects the Tunnel to the Coldbox Hall inside the Gallery Building.
A power cable has been connected from one substation to the modulator in NCG (Neutron Chopper Group). Copper grounding installation for the racks closest to the Temporary Technical Centre is completed and ready for the very last row of racks to be put into their permanent position. Grounding of the rack steel and installation of equipment in the racks is ongoing. Only the first 21 stubs/RF cells will be populated in the first phase of ESS operations – the last six are for future upgrades (located behind the Temporary Technical Centre and Gallery Technical Area – Test Stands 2 & 3). The installation of process piping, cable ladders and cable connections, as well as cable pulling, continues throughout the Gallery Building.
General
Work is ongoing around the Dog Leg, with wall extensions being put in place on both sides. By mid-April, the area will be ready for the Civil Section to mount the pre-cast retaining wall on the south side and then continue with refill works, planned for completion in June. Kerb stones and walkways north of the Gallery Buidling are nearing completion, and steel frame and cladding work along the Circular Road is ongoing.
