On 29 December 2013, after an absence of two weeks during which they carried out their duties away from their normal place of work, the staff of SESAME returned to their offices and laboratories on the premises of SESAME where work leading to the start of commissioning of the booster is steadily being resumed.
The doors of the premises of SESAME were closed after the roof of the experimental hall caved in on 14 December 2013 as a result of the main truss that supports it having bent under the weight of an unusually great amount of snow that fell between 11 and 14 December 2013.
Once the snow on the roof melted, engineering measures were immediately taken to render the experimental hall safe for the staff of SESAME, and forty-one Screw Jacks, each capable of supporting 20 tons, were installed to support the main truss and crane girder. Additional scaffolding was also assembled above the shielding to support the secondary trusses, the main truss and the crane girder as a precaution in the event of another abnormally heavy snowfall before the end of the winter.
In parallel, the SESAME Safety Committee issued a set of safety rules, which primarily have the protection of the staff in mind, to ensure that the staff members are able to move around the building in full security.
An engineering designer and contractor are now working on a new design for the steel structure of the roof, which is to have a load capacity that is greater than that of the existing one. Different designs are being considered in order to select the optimal one.
Work to install and fully mount the new roof is expected to be complete by the spring of 2014.