DESY has commissioned two consortia of renowned building contractors to construct the underground buildings (tunnels, shafts and halls) for the 3.4 km long X-ray laser facility, European XFEL.
The contracts for the sites at Schenefeld, in the Pinneberg district (Schleswig-Holstein), and Osdorfer Born, in Hamburg – which add up to nearly €206 million – were awarded to the consortium Hochtief/Bilfinger Berger. The commission for the civil-engineering works at the Hamburg site of DESY-Bahrenfeld amounts to €36 million and goes to the consortium Züblin/Aug. Prien. The contracts were awarded on 12 December and construction started officially on 8 January. DESY is at present acting for the future not-for-profit company European XFEL GmbH, which is to be founded in spring 2009 and will be in charge of the construction and operation of the new research facility.
The 3.4 km long research facility will be located between the DESY site at Bahrenfeld and the neighbouring town of Schenefeld. It will begin at DESY, where the central supply stations will be situated. In the last kilometre, the tunnel will fan out into several separate tunnels in which the X-ray laser flashes will be generated and transferred to the experiment stations. The site at Osdorfer Born, which will comprise another access and supply building, will be established at the beginning of this tunnel fan. The underground experiment hall at the end of the facility will be located on the future 15 ha research campus in Schenefeld and provide space for 10 experiment stations. It will be 14 m deep, with a surface area of 4500 m2. The contracts that were awarded in December cover all civil-engineering works. These comprise eight shafts leading into underground halls, the experiment hall and all of the tunnels. The total length of tunnel system will be 5.8 km and will be constructed using tunnel-boring machines.
The investment costs for the European X-ray laser facility amount to €986 million (at 2005 price levels). As the host country, Germany will cover as much as 60% of the investment costs and at least 40% will be borne by the international partner countries. Alongside the German federal ministry of education and research, the City of Hamburg and the German federal state of Schleswig-Holstein, 13 countries are participating: China, Denmark, France, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Poland, Russia, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland and the UK.
