Some LHC milestones...
October 1995
The LHC technical design report is published. This document details the operation and the architecture of the future accelerator.
November 2000
The first of the 1232 main dipole magnets for the LHC are delivered.
May 2005
The first interconnection between two magnets of the accelerator is made. To carry out the 1700 interconnections of the LHC, 123 000 operations are necessary.
February 2006
The new CERN Control Centre, which combines all the control rooms for the accelerators, the cryogenics and the technical infrastructure, starts operation. The LHC will be controlled from here.
October 2006
Construction of the largest refrigerator in the world is complete. The 27 km cryogenic distribution line inside the LHC tunnel will circulate helium in liquid and gas phases to provide cryogenic conditions for the superconducting magnets of the accelerator.
November 2006
Magnet production for the LHC is complete. The last of the 1624 superconducting main magnet arrives at CERN – 1232 dipole magnets of 15 metre lengths will be used to guide the beams, and 392 quadrupole magnets of 5 to 7 metre lengths will be used to focus the beams.
November 2007
The interconnections of all the arcs of the LHC are completed.
August 2008
The 27 kilometres of the LHC has reached the –271°C needed for the experiment. This is just two degrees from absolute zero, the lowest temperature imaginable.
Particles have circulated the LHC for the first time. Two bunches of particles were accelerated by CERN’s accelerator chain and then sent in opposite directions around the LHC.
