09/02/2019

How to Move a Particle Accelerator

When Pickfords and U-Haul simply won’t cut it

We’ll admit it. It’s not a problem that we come up against every day, but it’s pretty typical of the kind of problem that AVMR are asked to help out with. After all, we specialise in listening to our customers and delivering perfect solutions – big or small – so when the scientists at STFC Daresbury near Liverpool approached for help with the transportation of their latest particle accelerator to Magurelle, Romania we jumped at the chance.

The problem? While Magurelle in Romania is a scientific hotbed of experimentation, the equipment used by the facilities there come from all over the world. Such as specialist components for use in their ongoing particle accelerator work. Manufactured many hundreds of miles away from their eventual deployment, these new components are large, heavy and calibrated to perfection.

The plan was to transport STFC’s work by road and so AVMR were asked to devise a system by which the new accelerator could be confidently moved on public roads and arrive intact.

The system we used involved a series of wire rope mounts attached to the vehicle load bay and the accelerator component within. By precisely calculating the weight, inertia and movement of the unit while carefully anchoring it multiple times with precise damping, we were able to effectively suspend the unit, liberating it from the vibration and strains to be incurred during its movement.

Our strict client privacy policy prevents us from divulging more technical details, suffice to say the move was a great success with the unit arriving well within the expected vibration criteria, much to the delight of the client.

We pride ourselves on helping to make the biggest (or smallest) job run smoothly, so if you’d like to experience a similar level of expertise, care and problem solving don’t hesitate to get in touch.

Please note the image is stock imagery (due to client confidentiality).