Worksite progress
A view from the belfry
8 Oct 2018
If ITER were a small town (and in a way it is), crane C5 would be the belfry—the spectacular vantage point from which to take it all in.
From a height of some 80 metres, by the light of a midafternoon in October, buildings, vehicles, lifting fixtures and people at work are revealed in sharp detail.
The small town is booming with activity, its dwellers dwarfed by the giant structures that surround them: to the left, the 60-metre-high Assembly Hall and the circular bioshield ressembling a jewel in its box; to the right, part of the industrial infrastructure (power conversion, cryoplant, electrical switchyard) that will support machine operations.
A sharp eye will notice that Crane C1, rising from the centre of the bioshield and materializing the axis of the ITER machine, stands taller than it used to: the optimized version of the building plan required its extension by approximately 10 metres.
Compared to the view shot from the same location in July, progress on the Diagnostics Building (centre) is spectacular. The building has now reached its final height and most of the work is going on in the lower floors.
The gallery below will tell you more ...