The 40-ton circular spreader beam can travel the length of the building to move the poloidal field conductor assemblies from the winding station, on to impregnation with epoxy resin, and finally stacking and joining.
Looking across the platform from the completed winding facility at the Assembly Hall worksite (mid-platform) and the new ITER Headquarters (background).
The building that will house the on-site assembly line for five of ITER's six poloidal field coils stands ready on the southeast edge of the platform for activity to begin at the end of the year.
This Darth Vader-like structure sitting on the roof of the Poloidal Field Coils Winding Building is one of several exhaust fans that will suck air out of the vast building.
From the north end of the facility, the gigantic coils won't have far to go to enter the Assembly Hall, which will be built on the near side of the Tokamak Seismic Pit. Photo: F4E
This 257-metre-long building will be equipped with three manufacturing stations. The sequential operations necessary for completing one poloidal field coil will take at least 24 months. Photo: F4E
The area around the PF Winding Facility is now paved. In 2013, trucks carrying the first conductor spools from China, Europe and Russia will enter this end of the building to deliver their loads. Photo: F4E
The Poloidal Field Coils Winding Facility will not be the only building on the platform for long: the contract for the three-building Tokamak Complex (Diagnostic, Tritium and Tokamak buildings) will be signed later this year. Photo: Engage-AP
The completed Poloidal Field Coils Winding Facility awaits busier days. Later this year, the selected coil manufacturer will move in to equip the building. Photo: F4E
Snow hasn't hampered the works on the Poloidal Field Coils Winding Facility: the building is now completed and awaits handover from the building contractors (the French consortium Spie Batignolles, Omega Concept and Setec) to the European Domestic Agency for ITER, Fusion for Energy.
The completed interior of the Winding Facility. In this 257-metre-long building work will begin in late 2012 on the winding and assembly of five poloidal field coils (PF2, 3, 4, 5 and 6). Photo: F4E
Trucks delivering the raw material for coil manufacture—niobium-titanium conductor—will enter the facility through this door and unload in a dust-free environment. Photo: F4E
Exterior stairwell, paved roads ... the last touches to the Poloidal Field Coils Winding Facility are carried out before handover on 14 February. Photo: F4E
The three projects that transformed the ITER platform in 2011: the PF Coils Winding Facility (foreground); the Tokamak Pit excavation and foundation work (centre); and—in the distance—the ITER Headquarters.
The spreader beam (40 tons) is supported by a trolley (48 tons) that runs between two steel beams (43 and 48 tons). The entire assembly weighs close to 200 tons. Photo: F4E
Cladding operations are completed on the north end of the Winding Facility. The 257 m x 49 m x 18 metre facility required 9,500 square metres of steel cladding and 11,000 square metres of roofing. Photo: F4E
The Winding Facility is situated on the far end of the 400 metre-wide ITER platform. In seven years, what is now empty space will be entirely filled in with the infrastructure and installations in support of the ITER Tokamak.
With one month to go before work on the Poloidal Field Coils Winding Facility ends, workers carry out the last cladding operations on the north face of the building. In the foreground, a cylindrical tank that will store water for the Facility's independent fire fighting system.
This 25 metre-wide spreader beam has 24 brackets that will bear the weight of the poloidal field coils as smoothly and evenly as possible, and avoid tilt. Photo: F4E
In November 2011, static load and dynamic movement tests were carried out on the 40-ton spreader beam, which must be capable of transporting loads as smoothly and evenly as possible, with a maximum authorized tilt of 10 mm. Photo: F4E
Four hundred metres across the platform, the first completed building. Work will begin here in 2012 to wind ITER's largest magnets: the poloidal field coils. Photo: F4E
This is the "delivery" end of the Winding Facility
Spools of niobium-titanium conductor will be delivered here at the south end of the facility. Winding operations will happen in a sequential manner until the finished coils leave the opposite end of the building on a self-propelled transporter. Photo: F4E
The central trolley (48 tons) will support the weight of the 40-ton spreader beam and allow it to transfer loads across the width of the Winding Facility. Photo: F4E
Following delivery from the factory in San-Sebastian, Spain, the second travelling crane of the Poloidal Field Facility is installed in two days. Photo: F4E
Components for the second bridge crane—two 40-ton beams and a hoisting trolley (seen on the floor)—are delivered to the ITER site in October. Photo: F4E
Floor surface treatment is completed on one-half of the Winding Facility. The travelling crane, in yellow, will have the capacity to travel the entire length of the building. Photo: F4E
The Winding Facility is just a few months from completion. Scheduled for October: power, HVAC (heating and air conditioning) and fluid tests; the delivery of the second bridge crane, and painting inside the building. Photo: Altivue/ITER Organization
The north face of the Poloidal Field Coils Winding Facility will remain open until the final bridge crane is delivered in October and installed directly on the rails. Photo: Altivue/ITER Organization
Work advances rapidly on the 257-metre-long Poloidal Field Coils Winding Facility in July 2011: the cladding is nearly finished, the three-floor office building is in place ... Photo: F4E
Corrugated metal on the inside, plus two layers of glass wool insulation and two layers of metal sheeting sealed with tape—these five layers make up the walls of the Poloidal Field Coils Winding Facility. Photo: F4E
From the roof of the Winding Facility, the tower cranes working around the Seismic Isolation Pit (blue) and the ITER Headquarters (yellow) are visible in the distance. Photo: F4E
Straddling the workspace across its width (approximately 40 metres) and installed at opposite ends of the Winding Facility, two overhead cranes will travel along metal rails that span the building's entire length, lifting loads up to 25 and 100 tons resepctively. Photo: AIF
The heavy lifting required for poloidal field coil assembly will be done by the overhead bridge cranes. Beams for the first crane arrive on site in June 2011. Photo: AIF
With the exception of the right edge, where yellow insulation and the first layers of cladding are still apparent, the Poloidal Field Coils Winding Facility takes on its final colours. Photo: AIF
Successive layers of cladding are applied to the exterior of the Winding Facility in April 2011. These include an inner layer of sheeting containing small holes to absorb work area noise; two layers of glass wool insulation; and finally two layers of metal sheeting sealed with tape against dust. The final colours will be grey and burnished red.
The poloidal field coil system consists of six horizontal coils placed outside the toroidal magnet structure. Due to their size, the actual winding of five of the six poloidal field coils will take place here, in this dedicated, 257-metre long facility on the ITER site in Cadarache. (The smallest of the coils will be manufactured offsite and delivered finished.) Photo: F4E
The Winding Facility will accommodate docking stations for the unloading and temporary placement of the superconducting coils, production zones corresponding to the successive steps of the winding and assembly process, and offices. Photo: Altivue/Spie Batignolles
A smooth concrete platform is built outside of the exit doors of the Poloidal Field Coil Winding Facility for the safe transfer of the completed coils. Photo: Altivue/Spie Batignolles
Work begins on the metal cladding of the Winding Facility. Five layers of metal cladding and insulation will protect the work space inside—where cleanliness is a priority—from the infiltration of dust. Photo: F4E
Embedded plates will be installed along the horizontal beams on either side of the Poloidal Field Coils Winding Facility for the rails of the travelling cranes. Photo: F4E
Designed to carry loads of up to 42 tons per square metre, the floor slab for the Winding Facility is completed in March 2011. To ensure such high resistance, the subsoil was treated with a special hydraulic binder before reinforcement was laid and concrete poured. Photo: F4E
Five of ITER's six poloidal field coils are too large to be transported and will be wound on site in the Poloidal Field Coils Winding Facility. The finished coils, measuring up to 24 metres in diameter, will leave the building through one of two 30-metre exit doors (visible at left in the photo). Photo: F4E
Trenches for the underground networks of the Poloidal Field Coils Winding Facility are dug in the foreground; in the background—the current office buildings of the ITER Organization. Photo: F4E
In this vast building, the operations for the winding and assembly of the poloidal field magnets will be carried out in successive order. The finished coils will exit one of the large openings in the west wall, for transfer to the Assembly Hall of the Tokamak Building. Photo: F4E
Construction of the metal framework has been underway for several weeks. It consists of a strong triangular shaped lattice with a 40-metre-long base. Photo: F4E
The Poloidal Field Coils Winding Facility is financed by Europe, who will carry out the winding operations for the poloidal field coils in this building from superconductor delivered by China, Europe and Russia. Europe is responsible for the construction of all of the buildings on the ITER platform as part of its commitment to the ITER project. Photo: F4E
Each steel roofing truss is 4 metres high and 40 metres wide. Thirty-four trusses in all will support the roof of the 257-metre-long Poloidal Field Coils Winding Facility. Photo: F4E
The metal trusses for the roof of the Poloidal Field Coils Winding Facility weigh eight tons each. Due to their weight, the metal parts are first assembled on the building's reinforced concrete slab, then lifted by crane to a height of 19 metres. Photo: F4E
The concrete pillars and beams of the Winding Facility are up and nearly all of the 12,000 m² floor slab has been set into place. The wide openings visible on the west face of the building are the exit doors for the completed coils; each door is 30 metres wide. Photo: Altivue/AIF
In January 2011, concrete pouring for the floor slab continues on one end of the building, while the first metal roof truss is set into place on the other. Photo: F4E
The columns of the Winding Facility are solidly anchored four metres deep in the ground. These columns will support the structure of the building and bear the weight of two travelling bridge cranes that will have a lifting capacity, respectfully, of 25 and 100 tons. Photo: F4E
Work begins on the first building on the ITER platform in August 2010: the Poloidal Field Coils Winding Facility. The French consortium Spie Batignolles, Omega Concept and Setec was chosen by the European Domestic Agency F4E to design and build the facility. Photo: Altivue/AIF
Later 2012, the winding and assembly activities for ITER's five largest poloidal field coils will begin in this 257-metre, on-site facility. Image credit: ITER Organization
The poloidal field coils completely encircle the ITER vacuum vessel and toroidal field magnet system. These giant components are—for five of them, at least—too large to travel after manufacture. Image credit: ITER Organization
All photos are to be credited to the ITER Organization unless otherwise specified. The ITER Organization provides images and videos on its public website free of charge for educational and institutional use. An explanation of the "Terms of Use" is available for download.
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