University of California to receive NGLS tunnel
27 November 2012A tunnel engineering design service contract for the underground Next Generation Light Source (NGLS) tunnel at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) has been awarded to Jacobs Associates. The NGLS tunnel contract is part of the University of California¹s prime contract with the US Department for Energy.
The Jacobs Associates team will work with Berkeley Lab on the conceptual design for the NGLS facilities, which consist of an access shaft and portal, a linear accelerator tunnel that ends in a cavern and ten branch tunnels, as well as several egress shafts and an access tunnel.
The proposed NGLS tunnel will be constructed through the Orinda Formation, an interbedded sequence of weak sandstones, siltstones, and conglomerates. The scope of work will include evaluations of alternative methods for tunnelling excavation, and development of concept designs for the preliminary lining, final lining, and waterproofing. Jacobs Associates also will assist Berkeley Lab in developing approaches for materials disposal, and storm and groundwater drainage.
The NGLS will house a new class of powerful high-repetition-rate x-ray lasers that will enable X-ray movies of electron motions and the development of new X-ray spectroscopies.. This is critical for analysing energy conversion systems such as solar and fuel cells, batteries, and superconductors, and will help maintain US leadership in the field of photon science and support future innovation, Jacobs Associates stated.
