Shaft sinking is scheduled to begin this December for a 3km series of tunnels and caverns that will house the $15.8M Neutrino Beam project, an offshoot of the CERN project on the French Swiss border.
The Spie Batignolles/Societa Italiana per Condotte D’Acqua/Sotrabas JV won the construction contract on the that involves a 3.2m diameter TBM driven Decay tunnel. Smaller tunnels (to connect with the existing CERN structure) and shafts will be constructed by the JV using a roadheader while chambers will be constructed using mechanical excavators. All structures will have a primary shotcrete lining.
The project, designed by UK consultant Gibb, will start with the sinking of the PGCN shaft (see diagram) followed by excavation of the TBM launch chamber.
The TBM will then run down the access gallery, adjacent to TN4, to the target and then on to the Hadron stop chamber.
Tunnelling will be through tertiary molasse with alternating layers of siliceous sandstone, soft clayey marls and sandstone marls.
The purpose of the tunnel is to house the Neutrino Beam, studying the neutrino particles fired down the tunnel through the earth’s crust towards a detector chamber 732km away in Rome.
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