Two out of five and standing tall already
18 Jan 2015
Two levels out of five and the pillars already stand tall on the platform. As the Assembly Building's steel skeleton is progressively bolted into place, the massive size of the construction becomes more and more evident.
Bolting together column sections, weighing as much as 23 tonnes, is a delicate manual operation. All in all, 220 sections will be assembled to form the building's east and west walls.
Work on the structure began in September 2014. In April, when columns on both side of the slab have reached half their nominal height, workers will begin assembling the roof on the ground.
Once the roof has been fully assembled and the columns have reached their full height (approximately 60 metres), the frame of the roof can be lifted and bolted to the structure.
The installation of the crane rails will follow. The delivery of the supersized cranes designed to handle the heaviest ITER components is planned for the end of the year.