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ICE Community blog

When civil engineering and particle physics collide

Date
23 January 2025

During a visit to the European Organization for Nuclear Research, David Porter learned there’s no physics without tunnels.

When civil engineering and particle physics collide
L-R: Sean Harris, ICE deputy director general and membership director, John Osborne, senior civil engineer at CERN and David Porter, ICE Senior Vice President

The particle physics research laboratory at the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) is the largest in the world.

Many important scientific achievements have been made through experiments at CERN.

These include the invention of the World Wide Web in 1989 by Tim Berners Lee and the discovery of the Higgs Boson in 2012.

At the start of this year, ICE Senior Vice President, David Porter, visited CERN to witness firsthand the role that civil engineers play in developing the infrastructure crucial to scientific research.

David’s visit included guided tours of the Atlas, Science gateway and the CERN Control Room, as well as the complex network of 100m deep tunnels.

“I was so impressed by the skill and ingenuity of the civil engineers involved in the construction and maintenance of whole site. In particular the 27km circumference tunnel that houses the particle accelerator,” David said.

“Their work is a clear example of how those in our profession are invisible superheroes who create the infrastructure which supports others to achieve their objectives.”

The World Wide Web was invented at CERN
The World Wide Web was invented at CERN

No tunnels, no physics

The tunnels that house the Hadron Collider are maintained by a team of civil engineers, many of whom are ICE members.

John Osborne now manages a team responsible for civil engineering and infrastructure studies for large scale future physics projects.

These include the 100km Future Circular Collider (FCC) at CERN, Muon Collider, Compact Linear Collider (CLIC) and the International Linear Collider (ILC) in Japan.

“It was fantastic to have the future ICE President visit CERN and to inspire the young civil engineering graduates on their path to chartership,” John said.

“This visit has helped to raise the profile and importance of civil engineering in the pursuit of fundamental research.”

As we always say at CERN, ‘No tunnels, no physics!’.

John Osborne

The New Future Circular Collider

CERN is currently investigating the feasibility of the Future Circular Collider (FCC) as a potential successor of the Large Hadron Collider (LHC).

This 90 km long tunnel would straddle the French/Swiss border in the Geneva region. The new FCC is estimated to cost CHF 15 billion.

Read more about the Future Circular Collider

Engaging our network of ICE members across Europe

The ICE Europe Regional Committee
The ICE Europe Regional Committee

The Europe Regional Committee also held their 2025 strategy meeting to plan their programme of activity for 2025.

Along with the eight ICE members based at CERN, there are almost 2,000 members living and working across Europe supported by a network of country representatives.

Email [email protected] to contact your nearest regional representative.

I want to thank John Osborne and the whole CERN team for facilitating the ICE Europe Regional Committee trip to a fascinating facility where cutting edge research has been delivered since the 1950s.

David Porter

Upcoming events in Europe:

  • Thomas Compton, international membership operations manager at ICE