José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero officially opens the Alba Synchrotron, Spain’s largest science facility, constructed by OHL.

On 22 March, the President of the Government, José Luis Rodríguez Zapatero, officially opened the Alba Synchrotron Light Facility, located in Cerdanyola del Valles (Barcelona). It is the largest science facility ever built in Spain, constructed by OHL and managed by the Consortium for the Construction, Equipment Installation and Management of the Synchrotron Light Facility (CELLS), half made up by the Ministry of Science and Innovation and half by the Catalan Parliament.

Juan-Miguel Villar Mir, President of the OHL Group, attended the opening along with Jose Montilla, Presidente of the Catalan Parliament; Cristina Garmendia, the Minister of Science and Innovation; and Josep Huget, the Catalan Minister of Innovation, Universities and Companies; among others. On OHL’s behalf, also attending were Baltasar Aymerich, Director; Rafael Martin de Nicolas, director and General Manager of OHL National Construction; Carlos Sanchez Marin, Manager of Civil Works, Area 1; Carlos Gispert, Area Manager of Civil Works for Catalunia and the Balearics; and Juan Jose Gonzalez, Project Manager for Catalunia and the Balearics; among others. Alba is the first synchrotron light facility to be built in Spain, and also the first of its kind in South East Europe. Its opening represents a decisive step in the Spanish Science and Singular Techniques Infrastructures Plan (ICTS) and its international projection, positioning Spain – already the ninth power in science production worldwide – as a country of note in large research facilities. The management of Civil Works in Catalunia of the OHL Group was put in charge of the construction of this distinguished project. The extremely technical component of the facility and the requirements necessary for its proper functioning presented a challenge for its construction. The strict requirements that OHL had to meet in the project were not only technical, but also related to quality, planning, health and safety. They forced OHL to develop and apply construction solutions closer to technological procedures than standard construction projects.

The synchrotron has been built on a surface area of 22,870 m2. Its facilities are composed of the main building (of glass and concrete, a circular structure, 140 m in diameter and covered in the shape of a helicoidal shell), the technical building, and a third building used for administration and other purposes. It contains three accelerators: a linear one, a propulsion one and the storage ring, as well as seven experimental beam lines.

The construction was awarded to OHL in two phases. The contract for phase one was for the civil works themselves: earth moving, service tunnel, laying foundations, drainage, grounding of the critical area and the civil work of the Alba Tunnel.

Phase two involved the architecture of the synchrotron: the construction of the main building, secondary buildings and the urbanisation of the Synchrotron Light Facility.

Within its many uses it must be pointed out that the radiation generated by the synchrotron may be used in many fields of research, from chemistry and physics to medicine and biology. Its industrial uses are extremely varied, e.g., producing very tiny objects, design of medicine, and uses in environmental sciences and material sciences. The Alba Synchrotron Light Facility is third generation technology, the latest in its kind of facility, and the only one south of the line from Paris to Trieste (excluding the European facility in Grenoble).

Alba will allow Spain to be included among the select group of countries that produce the most significant scientific discoveries and the greatest innovations. Its construction and equipment installation also show the enormous potential of the so-called “industry of science”: a collection of sectors that are innovative, generating employment and wealth with an important role in economic recuperation and growth. It is an emerging market in Spain whose development goes with the large amount of public investment in R & D and means a significant source of quality employement and new opportunities for the industry.

The construction period for Alba ended in December 2009. The facility will be activated little by little during 2010 in order to become completely up and running in 2011. It is predicted that from then on, Alba will initially give service each year to some 1,000 researchers.