Detector Civil Construction

You can follow the progress of the construction project for the MiniBooNE detector in the following series of photographs.

1. Phase I: Excavation for the detector vault. Started 15-Oct-1999 ... Completed 17-Nov-1999.

2. Phase II: Construction of the base slab for the detector vault. Started 17-Nov-1999 ... Completed 11-Dec-1999.

3. Phase III: Construction of the walls for the detector vault. Started 11-Dec-1999 ... Completed 01-Mar-2000.

4. Phase IV: Construction of the entrance corridor and wing walls. Started 01-Mar-2000 ... Completed 17-Apr-2000

5. Phase V: Construction of the steel tank. Started 03-Apr-2000 ... Completed 03-Aug-2000

6. Phase VI: Construction of the electronics room. Started 23-May-2000 ... Completed 31-Aug-2000

7. Phase VII: Mechanical and electrical installation. Started 28-Aug-2000.

What exactly are we building here?

The detector construction project basically consists of building a 40 ft diameter spherical steel tank in a cylindrical underground vault with an electronics room above it. The electronics room will be accessed via a 20 ft long entrance corridor and the whole construction will be covered with an earth berm (pictured abaove). A smaller overflow tank will be housed in a vault positioned under the entrance corridor. The following picture shows a cut-away of the final arrangement.