Short-term girder park

A few hours before the last leg of the journey, on 21 April, the twin girders for the double overhead travelling crane are parked in the countryside, 20 kilometres to the east of the ITER site.

 

Soon, a small crowd will join — Head of convoy, drivers, mechanics, assistance and security personnel, French gendarmes... all in all, close to 150 people in two dozen vehicles. 

 

At 10:00 p.m., the head of convoy will signal departure. By then, night will have fallen. Like a long steel serpent in a halo of blinking and pulsating lights, the convoy will slowly start moving.

 

Six hours later, one of the longest convoys that ever travelled the roads of southern France (some 250 metres from head to tail) arrived at the ITER site.

 

The four girders are now safely stored inside the Poloidal Field Coils Winding Facility. Their installation in the Assembly Hall is scheduled for June.