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Neutrinos Project Nominated for National Outstanding Civil Engineering Achievement Award


Media Contact(s):
Joan Buhrman
703-295-6406
jbuhrman@asce.org





February 21, 2006

Neutrinos Project Nominated for National Outstanding Civil Engineering Achievement Award

Reston, Va.—The world's first high-energy, long-baseline neutrino experiment, the Neutrinos at the Main Injector (NuMI) project—which runs from the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory in Batavia, Ill., to the Soudan Underground Mine Park in northern Minnesota—has been named one of five finalists for the 2006 Outstanding Civil Engineering Achievement Award (OCEA), presented by the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE). This year's award winning project will be named at ASCE's 2006 Outstanding Projects and Leaders (OPAL) awards gala on April 26 at the Ronald Reagan Building and International Trade Center in Washington, D.C.

"The OCEA program recognizes projects on the basis of their resourcefulness in addressing planning and design challenges, as well as their impact on the environment, pioneering uses of materials and techniques, construction innovations and contribution to the well-being of people and their communities," said ASCE President Dennis R. Martenson, P.E., DEE, F.ASCE. "The civil engineering solution employed to facilitate the NuMI Project's scientific experiments is an exceptional example of everything the OCEA award embodies."

The NuMI project, which leads the neutrino physics program of the U.S. Department of Energy, will enhance our understanding of matter and the universe by sending neutrinos (sub-atomic particles with negligible mass and electric charge) 435 miles from Fermilab through solid bedrock to a detector in Soudan, Minn., seeking changes during the journey. The project, which produces neutrino beams for the Main Injector Neutrino Oscillation Search (MINOS) experiment, demonstrates historical technology—early
  • 20th-century iron mining—coexisting and flourishing with modern technology, without sacrificing the historical or natural environment. The Soudan Lab has also become a destination for elementary and secondary students and teachers to learn about integral role of physics in our lives.

    The $170-million project provides underground and aboveground facilities including three major experimental caverns at Fermilab, which are connected to two subsurface buildings by vertical access shafts at a maximum of 360 feet below ground over approximately 4,200 lineal feet. The MINOS Far Detector cavern and tunnels, completed in 2001, are 2,340 feet below grade at the level 27 of the Soudan Lab. Technical equipment was installed through 2003, construction was completed in 2004 and experimental installation began in January 2005.

    Design and construction of the underground research facility posed several major challenges, including inherent space and access limitations and the long-term stability of the tunnels and caverns, and the need for a controlled environment for the sensitive experiment equipment; protection groundwater and occupied areas from radiation; a complex system of utilities and equipment to service and support the experiments; and accommodation requirements for state park tours during construction. These challenges were met with numerous innovative solutions, including:
    • State-of-the-art numerical modeling of the caverns;
    • Large-scale pump tests and groundwater monitoring;
    • Composite lining systems with geotextile membranes and drainage fabrics;
    • HVAC systems with desiccated air supply;
    • Use of underground sump water inflow for process cooling;
    • Chilled-water cooling systems to maintain stability and alignment of critical project components under thermal loading; and
    • A 78-inch-diameter, half-mile-long steel pipe backfilled with up to eight-feet of controlled, low-strength cementitious material to contain radiation from particle beam decay during the experiment operations.
    The project was inaugurated in March 2005, and has since been awarded the Illinois ASCE's 2005 OCEA and Honor in Engineering Excellence awards, Midwest Construction's 2004 Award of Merit in Higher Education/Research and the Minnesota Society of Professional Engineers 2001 Seven Wonders Award.

    Other 2006 OCEA finalists include the Bridge Apollo in Bratislava, Slovakia; the Arthur Ravenel, Jr. Bridge in Charleston, S.C.; the Liberty Bridge in Greenville, S.C.; and the Saluda Dam Remediation Project in Columbia, S.C.

    Established in 1960 by the ASCE, the OCEA program recognizes projects on the basis of their contribution to the well-being of people and communities, resourcefulness in planning and design challenges, and innovations in materials and techniques. Selected from a group of 20 entries, the 2006 finalists are outstanding examples of how civil engineering can contribute to a community's economic success, improve residents' quality of life and facilitate scientific advancement. Previous winners include the relocation of the Cape Hatteras Lighthouse, the Trans-Alaska Pipeline and the World Trade Center Towers.

    The OPAL awards honor outstanding projects and professional civil engineers for lifelong contributions in five categories-public works, construction, management, design and education. For information on press passes to the gala, please contact Joan Buhrman at (703) 295-6406 or jbuhrman@asce.org.

    Founded in 1852, the American Society of Civil Engineers represents more than 139,000 civil engineers worldwide and is America's oldest national engineering society. For more information on ASCE, please visit www.asce.org.
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