LHC passes the 1000th magnet mark

Installation of the cryo-magnets for the LHC passed the symbolic 1000 mark at the beginning of the month.

At 10.30 am on 5 September, the 1000th cryo-magnet was installed in the LHC tunnel in the arc between point 3 and point 4.

The same week also saw the completion of the cryo-magnet installation between points 8 and 1, making this the first sector where all the magnets have been installed. Three other sectors (7-8, 4-5 and 5-6) are very close to completion with only a very few magnets missing, and installation work is now concentrated on sectors 3-4 and 6-7.

There are a total of 1746 cryo-magnets altogether, of which 1232 are the well-known 'blue' dipoles. The remaining 746 cryo-magnets should be transported and installed by March 2007.

Installation in the LHC tunnel is only one of many successive steps in the life of a cryo-magnet: cold mass manufacturing, cryostating, magnet testing at low temperature, preparation before lowering, transport, interconnecting, pumping down, cooling down and commissioning before injecting the first protons beams. Hundreds of collaborators, both from CERN and from the contractors, have been working hard for many years and should be warmly thanked for achieving this milestone.