The construction of the 5.5-m long 11T dipole prototype was completed in May this year after several years of intense work dedicated to the development and optimisation of the special tooling, and of the related manufacturing and inspection procedures.

Two contracts for the civil engineering works were adjudicated by the Finance Committee of March 2018 to a consortium MARTI TUNNELBAU, MARTI ÖSTERREICH and MARTI DEUTSCHLAND for the Point 1 works

The first test of superconducting crab cavities to rotate a beam of protons was performed on 23 May 2018 using a beam from CERN’s Super Proton Synchrotron (SPS) accelerator. These cavities are a key component of the HL-LHC.

The 7th HL-LHC Collaboration Board took place during the 7th HL-LHC Annual Meeting in November 2017, jointly organized by CIEMAT and CERN in Madrid, Spain. One of the focuses of the 7th HLCB meeting was a summary of the existing agreements for in-kind.

The two civil-engineering contractors, MARTI for the Point 1 works and IMPLENIA for the Point 5 works, are fully mobilized. The excavations of the shafts at Points 1 and 5 were completed in February 2019 and December 2018, respectively.

Two production readiness reviews where conducted at CERN: one for the pressure vessels and one for the MgB2 cable production.

In December 2018, a review of the design of the D2 correctors and HO correctors took place in CERN. The committee supported the selected designs that showed to reach the required performance.

On the 31st January 2019 (with a 2nd final session on the 12th February), a DFX Conceptual Design Review was held at CERN. The DFX is a key element of the cryogenic powering line for the new magnets of the LHC interaction region at IP1 and IP5.

The CERN internal review of the HL-LHC Beam Dump System [BDS] took place on February 5th and was chaired by Volker Mertens. It was to a large extent triggered by two observations from the LHC beam operation towards the end of Run2

One important upgrade for HL-LHC is the installation of new collimators, called TCLD, in the dispersion suppressors next to IR7 and IR2. The TCLDs are needed for proton and heavy-ion operation to intercept particles that differ from the main beam.