On the 4850 Level of SURF, crews use a drill to secure ground support on the walls of a newly excavated drift.
Excavation for the largest particle physics experiment hosted on United States soil is underway at the Sanford Underground Research Facility (SURF).
To study the properties of neutrinos, the Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment (DUNE) will launch a beam of the particles from Fermilab’s campus in Batavia, Illinois, about 800 miles straight through the earth to SURF in Lead, South Dakota. Crews will need to remove more than 800,000 tons of rock to make space for the massive detectors that will be housed a mile underground at SURF.
At this Deep Talks event, James Rickard, resident engineer for the Fermilab Research Alliance, will walk our audience through the excavation process—from geotechnic surveys and cavern design to drill and blast cycles to keeping crews safe along the way. Rickard will show video footage from the underground and answer questions from the audience.
“Deep Talks: Having a blast!” will be an online event, streamed on Thursday, Nov. 18, from 6 to 7 p.m. MT. You can join this event through the Zoom webinar to answer polls and submit questions OR watch live on SURF’s Facebook page.
Preregister for the Zoom webinar.
Watch live on SURF's Facebook page.
The Deep Talks lecture series is sponsored by Crow Peak Brewing Company, RCS Construction, Northern Hills Federal Credit Union and Chuck and Jolene Lichtenwalner.