Come next summer, scientists engaged in experiments at the underground Sudbury Neutrino Observatory (SNO) will be housed in comfort in a 33,400-square-foot building at the Creighton mine site.
$7.5M project to be completed next June
BY PATRICIA WILLIAMS
STAFF WRITER
Come next summer, scientists engaged in experiments at the underground Sudbury Neutrino Observatory (SNO) will be housed in comfort in a 33,400-square-foot building at the Creighton mine site.
Being constructed by Tribury Construction (1995) Ltd., the three-storey building will include laboratories and offices as well as other facilities.
The structure replaces a pre-engineered temporary facility and some portable trailers.
The project team includes architects Nicholls Yallowega Belanger, structural engineers Halsall Associates Ltd, and mechanical and electrical engineers, LKM and Partners Inc.
The estimated construction cost is $7.5 million.
“It’s a typical construction project— bricks, boards and steel,” said Tribury project manager Robert Nistico.
“The only unusual aspect is the stringent cleaning procedure that must be carried out before turning the labs over to the owner.
“Before we leave, these areas must be white-glove clean.”
Tribury started construction in early May. Structural steel erection was expected to get under way this week. Substantial completion is targeted for the end of next June.
The building has been organized with a distinct separation of uses. The main level will house the entry, laboratories, a locker room and showers and main meeting rooms.
The upper two floors will accommodate administrative functions. The building, which is being constructed for Ottawa’s Carleton University, was developed using an integrated design process.
University physicists have been involved in the SNO project since its inception.
SNO is a heavy-water “Cherenkov” detector designed to detect neutrinos produced by fusion reactions in the sun. Neutrinos are tiny sub-atomic particles.
Nestled 6,800 feet underground in the mine, the detector uses 1,000 tonnes of heavy water on loan from Atomic Energy of Canada Ltd. and contained in a 12-metrediameter acrylic vessel.
Neutrinos react with the heavy water to produce flashes of light called Cherenkov radiation.The SNO project is a collaboration of scientists at 11 universities and national laboratories in Canada, the U.S.and England.
“This is a big deal in the scientific community,” said Ron Martin, executive director of the Sudbury Construction Association.
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