Everything depends on everything else

When are you going to know? And where exactly will those underground vertices be? What do you still need to do before a bid book is ready? And what will be in that bid book? When are you going to start construction?

This is just a selection of the many questions we receive every week during presentations, in -mails, and sometimes even while shopping in the supermarket. The number of questions is growing and they’re becoming more frequent.

The only answer is: ‘We don’t know everything yet!’ A feasibility study that we’re in the middle of at the moment will answer those questions. And in that context, the results we’re getting now are still intermediate results. While they’re important for us to base the next steps on, they’re intermediate results and nothing more, so it’s important not to raise false expectations. 

We still have a number of drillings ahead of us, to get to know that deeper subsurface in even more detail. What about groundwater?  In terms of hardness, do the layers look the way we expect them to be? Will we still have to deal with subsurface fractures and if so, what will that mean? After drilling at 11 sites last year, we’re now starting a new series of five. Boreholes one and two will be in Beusdael and Julémont. We’ll decide on the other locations later this year.

A noise study is in progress, in which we measure the noise from such sources as running water or traffic in relation to the boreholes we drilled last year and in the places where we’re drilling now. We did this last year, too, by the way. For instance, what noise is caused by a plane taking off from or landing at Maastricht Aachen Airport, or a TGV racing past?

At the same time, there are ongoing studies on how to build underground tunnels. In Switzerland, as we all know, it’s technically feasible for motorways to run through tunnels – but the Einstein Telescope requires more than what is usual in terms of precision, including in the construction of underground tunnels and caverns.

And even when we’re completely sure that we can build the underground triangle and know the exact location, we still won’t have reached our goal. As well as that deep subsurface, there are factors above ground to consider. What are we going to see above ground later on? How will it fit into the beautiful landscape? How will we handle the supply and disposal of materials? How will we be able to do the work as sustainably as possible? A large participation survey is gauging how residents in the Euregio border area view the Einstein Telescope and what they expect from it. What opportunities do residents see for their own region? What are their hopes or fears? Yet another study is looking at how to use renewable energy in a way that also benefits the immediate surroundings of the telescope.

All this explains the headline above this column and my key message: in our feasibility study, everything is connected to everything else. And it’s not just about the soil or the tunnel itself. Those are certainly important, but just as important are the impact on the environment, seizing opportunities, sustainability and last but not least: support from and in the surrounding area. Everything counts, so our top priority is robust all-around feasibility! And that’s why, even now, we can’t provide definitive answers to those many, very understandable and logical questions.

-Theo Reinders, project manager, ET-EMR feasibility phase-