Pre-excavation work begins on LBNF/DUNE

Adapted from original release by Andre Salles

An international project to build the largest physics experiment ever constructed in the United States took a major step forward as a new phase of work began at the Sanford Underground Research Facility (Sanford Lab) in Lead, South Dakota.

The U.S. Department of Energy’s Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory finalized an agreement with construction firm Kiewit-Alberici Joint Venture (KAJV) to start pre-excavation work for the Long-Baseline Neutrino Facility (LBNF), which will house the enormous particle detectors for the Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment (DUNE). The South Dakota portion of the facility will be built on the 4850 Level of Sanford Lab.

This follows a November agreement in which KAJV signed a lease to rent office space in Lead’s historic Gold Rush Plaza, which is already home to offices rented by Fermi Research Alliance. As the project progresses, Sanford Lab and Fermilab are hosting a one-hour informational meeting in Lead, South Dakota, for local residents Wednesday, Jan. 16, 2019, to answer questions about the construction of the project. The meeting will take place at 7 p.m. in the Education and Outreach Building at Sanford Lab.

“The start of LBNF pre-excavation work is a major milestone for the Sanford Lab and South Dakota,” said Mike Headley, executive director of Sanford Lab. “We’ve been working for years to get to this point, and we’re now starting construction on the largest science project ever attempted on U.S. soil. It’s incredibly exciting.”

The contract with KAJV covers the next two years and includes everything that will be needed to support the next phase of work—the fast, safe and continuous removal of approximately 875,000 tons of rock to create the large caverns that will house the massive DUNE detector modules. 

“After years of design and planning, it’s gratifying to put boots on the ground and begin this pre-excavation work,” said Chris Mossey, Fermilab’s Deputy Director for LBNF. “Getting to this point has been the result of a lot of work from the entire LBNF/DUNE team and our partners at KAJV, Arup, Sanford Lab and DOE, and we’re all ready for this next phase of the project to begin.” 

The work includes restoring and refurbishing rock-crushing equipment that was once used for Homestake Gold Mine where Sanford Lab now resides and outfitting the Ross Shaft to carry loads of crushed rock. Much of the early pre-excavation work will take place underground at Sanford Lab or inside existing enclosures on site. 

“Complicated tunneling, excavation and underground construction is what we do every day, but performing this work in support of a ground-breaking, international science experiment is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity,” said Scott Lundgren, spokesperson for KAJV. “We are proud to be a part of this historic project and look forward to helping the vision for LBNF become a reality.”

DUNE, hosted by Fermilab, will be the world’s most advanced experiment dedicated to studying the properties of mysterious subatomic particles called neutrinos. Scientists are seeking to understand the role neutrinos played in the formation of our universe, and the DUNE detectors will enable them to study a beam of particles generated by an upgraded accelerator complex at Fermilab. The DUNE collaboration includes more than 1,000 scientists from more than 30 countries around the world. A large prototype detector for the experiment, constructed at the European research center CERN, successfully began recording particle tracks in September of this year.  

For more information on LBNF/DUNE, see http://fnal.gov/dune.