On 11/24/2023, a group of students from the Surveying Technology master’s degree module in the Geoinformatics and Surveying program had the opportunity to visit the GSI Helmholtzzentrum für Schwerionenforschung (GSI Helmholtz Center for Heavy Ion Research) in Darmstadt.
The Survey and Alignment Team, led by Ina Pschorn, is responsible for all surveying aspects. This team guided us through the existing facility for a day and Matthias Stenglein from the Heinen und Fischer surveying office showed us around the large construction site of the new FAIR construction site of an even larger accelerator ring.
The Survey and Alignment Team gave us an in-depth look at their very exciting work. From the high-precision alignment of the entire facility, which weighs several tons, to measuring methods for detecting minimal deformations during the cooling of prototypes of the new accelerator ring, some of the special tasks of surveying were highlighted up close.
Construction site of the FAIR particle accelerator facility in Darmstadt, photo: Florian Schill, CC BY-SA 4.0
After the tour of the existing section of the GSI site, Matthias Stenglein led the group out to the large construction site of the new facility. The Heinen und Fischer surveying office has been carrying out the necessary surveying operations for the client in close coordination with the GSI team since construction began.
Mr. Stenglein had prepared a journey through time from the first inspection of the forest where the new building was to be constructed to the current status of the building. He used numerous details to illustrate the demands on the surveying team when coordinating a construction project of this magnitude.
Overall, the excursion provided in-depth insight into the complex surveying processes and technologies used at the GSI particle accelerator. The methods and challenges presented were a valuable experience for us students and provided an incentive to delve deeper into very specific issues in the broad field of geodesy.
The article was written by students from the Surveying Technology master’s degree module, majoring in Geoinformatics and Surveying