MiniBooNE Construction Pictures

Phase V: Construction of the Steel Tank

04/03/00 The pieces of the steel tank arrive on site and are unloaded.	04/03/00 A view inside the tank vault showing the location of 10 of the 12 anchor bolts to which the tank will be attached.	04/04/00 The lower half of the tank support columns have been put in place.
04/05/00 The first tank panel is in place and scaffolding has been erected on the support columns.	04/05/00 Another view of the tank panel showing scaffolding and mounting brackets.	04/06/00 Three panels are now in place.
04/10/00 A fourth panel has been placed and scaffolding has been added to the other three.	04/11/00 Five of the 18 panels are now in place.	04/12/00 Eight panels are now in place and some welding has started.
04/13/00 The ninth panel is being placed. This is the last of the panels connected to support columns.	04/26/00 The three bottom panels are now in place, including the one with the man hole shown here.	04/26/00 All twelve side panels are also in place and are being welded.
05/02/00 The first of the three top panels is being placed	05/04/00 The last of the sphere panels has been put in place.	06/05/00 The last of the bosses and struts which will be used to support the detector internals have been welded to the inside of the sphere and the internal scaffolding has been removed.
06/05/00 This is a view of the manhole from inside the tank.	06/05/00 The stairway to the bottom of the tank is installed, but still needs its inside handrail.	06/22/00 The tank is being hydro-tested. This invloves filling it with water, applying a slight overpressure, and then searching for leaks.
06/22/00 After the initial hydro-test the water is pumped out until the tank is half full, at which point the test will be repeated.	06/22/00 This shows a view of the fire hose (through which the tank is being emptied) running up the stairs.	07/07/00 The inside of the tank is being grit-blasted. The silver pipe that can be seen sticking out from the top is part of the ventilation scheme.
07/13/00 Grit-blasting and priming the outside of the tank is about half done.	07/13/00 Grit-blasting and priming the inside of the tank is complete, though a lot of grit material needs to be cleaned out.	07/13/00 Another view inside the tank showing the boom used by the painters to access the tank walls.
07/20/00 Priming of the tank is complete and application of the final coats of Plascite has started.	07/20/00 A view looking down into the tank, showing the Plascite has been applied around the bosses.	08/10/00 The vertical part of the fill pipe has been positioned in the electronics room floor.
08/22/00 A view of the tank from inside the vault showing the completed exterior paintwork.