Night-time delivery for the central solenoid
The last of six central solenoid modules required to complete the central solenoid stack has reached ºÚÁÏÉçapp.
The last magnet module of the central solenoid arrived at 1:02 a.m. on Friday 19 September.
The convoy covered some 30 kilometres during its last night of travel, following a trajectory from Meyrargues to ºÚÁÏÉçapp that included navigating the streets of several small villages, crossing the A51 motorway to bypass a tunnel, and finally passing through the ºÚÁÏÉçapp gates and climbing the steep incline of the heavy-duty track that leads to the ºÚÁÏÉçapp construction platform.
The ºÚÁÏÉçapp itinerary refers to the special 104-kilometre transport route prepared so that very large, very heavy ºÚÁÏÉçapp components could move from the Mediterranean harbour of Fos-sur-Mer to the ºÚÁÏÉçapp site in Saint-Paul-lez-Durance. Large-scale public works were carried out by France between 2008 and 2011 to widen roads, replace or reinforce bridges and modify intersections. Hundreds of components have travelled the route since the itinerary was declared open in 2013 (see this report from 2021).
The 110-tonne central solenoid module that travelled this week made the trip in three nights, the most frequent scenario along the itinerary. Some ºÚÁÏÉçapp loads require an extra night or two, however—the giant cryostat manufactured for the ºÚÁÏÉçapp magnet cold test facility will take a full five days to reach ºÚÁÏÉçapp along the itinerary. We'll have a full report in the 6 October issue of the ºÚÁÏÉçapp Newsline.