Tunnel construction for the European XFEL begins!
On 07 July, the giant cutterhead started turning: the newly christened tunnel boring machine TULA (“TUnnel for LAser”) drilled its first section into the wall of the shaft on the construction site Schenefeld and is on its way to the construction site Osdorfer Born. It will take the machine around one year to excavate the first two sections of the tunnel fan and the main tunnel for the accelerator of the X-ray laser. In summer 2011, TULA is expected to arrive in its reception shaft on the site DESY-Bahrenfeld. The total boring time depends strongly on the local soil conditions, however, for as the old tunnel-builders’ proverb says: “It’s always dark in front of the pick”. Indeed, TULA will meet its first challenge in a few days in the form of an old sewer with possibly long metal supporting pillars, which it has to pass under. Starting in late 2010, TULA will be assisted by a second, smaller tunnel boring machine that will drill the tunnel sections underneath the Schenefeld research campus.
Before the colossal machine started boring, a major tunnel celebration was held on 30 June on the construction site Schenefeld. Like mining, tunnel construction follows a special tradition that still plays an important role for miners and tunnel builders. Before construction begins, tunnel and boring machine are christened in an oecumenical service by their respective patronesses. In addition, a wooden statue of Saint Barbara is blessed and put up in a shrine on the tunnel wall. As patron saint of the miners and tunnel builders, she is said to protect the workers from the dangers connected with their labour.
Around 560 guests – tunnel builders, staff members of European XFEL GmbH and DESY, and numerous guests from politics and science – gathered on the future research campus of the European XFEL in Schenefeld for the christening ceremony, which was accompanied in proper style by the miners’ choir “Ruhrkohle-Chor” from Herne. As the host of the celebration, Professor Massimo Altarelli, Managing Director of the European XFEL GmbH, welcomed among others Schleswig-Holstein’s State Secretary for science Dr. Cordelia Andreßen, the Chairman of the Council Professor Robert Feidenhans'l, Dr. Karl Eugen Huthmacher from the German research ministry and Hamburg’s State Minister for science Dr. Herlind Gundelach, who took on the office of patroness of the tunnel sections excavated by TULA. As such, she is regarded by the workers as the earthly representative of Saint Barbara during the construction time, and the tunnel traditionally bears her first name: “Herlind tunnel”.
The tunnel boring machine is an impressive sight: 6.17 metres in diameter, 71 metres long, weighing 550 tonnes and costing 18 million Euro, the giant drill sat ready for action against the eastern wall of the shaft, waiting to power up. The machine was also christened during the ceremony. Its name was determined in a public contest by the Hamburger Abendblatt newspaper and announced at the christening by the patroness of the machine, Imke Gembalies from the European XFEL GmbH: “I hereby christen this new shield tunnelling machine TULA – TUnnel for LAser. We wish TULA the fewest possible obstacles in its path under the earth, a technology that always functions perfectly, and safe labour for everyone involved!”, said the patroness before taking the scissors on the red cushion and cutting the ribbon. Under the applause of the guests, the champagne bottle swung into the shaft and duly shattered against the hull of the giant borer.
As Professor Altarelli underlined in his welcome address, this ceremony was “a celebration of a double milestone on the road to the European XFEL – which hopefully will not be too rocky. First of all, of course, it marks the overall start of tunnel construction. In addition, it also centres on the European XFEL GmbH, the new international research institution that is currently establishing itself in Northern Germany and that will build and operate the European XFEL. This is the first time such a celebration has taken place under the banner of the European XFEL GmbH.”
The midday christening was followed in the late afternoon by a party for the neighbours of the X-ray laser, which attracted nearly 300 interested visitors from the Hamburg and Schenefeld neighbourhoods. The guests had the opportunity to watch a summary of the tunnel celebration on a movie screen, to have the construction site and progress explained to them at the FELIX info point, and to learn more about the large-scale project from interviews with the experts and representatives of the European XFEL and the civil engineering companies. Musical entertainment was again provided by the miners’ choir Ruhrkohle-Chor, who saw off the guests and everybody connected with the building project with a hearty “Glück auf!” – the traditional salutation of the German miners.
Further information:
Press release on the tunnel and tunnel borer christening from 30 June 2010,
The tradition of tunnel and borer christening and the programme of the tunnel celebration