First Concrete Poured for NSLS-II Ring Building

July 21, 2009

The first bits of the National Synchrotron Light Source II (NSLS-II) ring building are now taking shape after the concrete-pouring process for the new, world-class facility began on Monday, July 20. Once complete, the 400,000 square-foot building will house the accelerator ring, the largest component of the machine.

“This is the first structural concrete we’ve poured,” said Marty Fallier, NSLS-II Division Director for Conventional Facilities. “It’s an important milestone in that we’re actually beginning construction of the building itself. People have been watching us perform earthwork for two months, and now we’ll have something to show for it.”

In total, the ring building will require about 40,000 cubic yards (a little more than one million cubic feet) of concrete, which will take about 18 months to pour. Much of this extraordinary amount of concrete is needed to form the building’s massive concrete tunnel and experimental floor, and to meet requirements for radiation shielding and vibration reduction, Fallier said.

Steel beams will begin to arrive on site as early as September, with the bulk of the steel erection starting in December. The installation of underground utilities is also underway and will ramp up in the next few months.

The work is being done by Torcon, Inc., a New Jersey firm with many projects in New York State.

2009-1349  |  INT/EXT  |  Newsroom