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The LIGO project received the Distinguished Engineering and Science Research Project Award from the Engineers Council, Inc.
Project Overview
In 1916, Albert Einstein theorized that gravitational waves existed and moved through space similar to sound waves. Though no technology existed to measure them, Einstein believed the waves occurred whenever anything in the universe moved, from a cosmic collision of black holes to one person bumping into another. In the last years of the 20th century, Parsons helped provide the tools for science to prove Einstein's theory by detecting the waves. Through a contract with the California Institute of Technology and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and funding from the National Science Foundation, Parsons provided architecture-engineering and construction management to build observatories capable of detecting and studying gravitational waves.
Observatories known as Laser Interferometer Gravitational-Wave Observatories (LIGO) were designed and constructed at Livingston, Louisiana, and Hanford, Washington. These locations were selected for their low background noise and seismic vibration levels, which will aid detection of the gravitational waves. Parsons' work included design, site investigation and preparation, and construction management of the two facilities. Using a multi-disciplined team of engineers and designers, Parsons addressed the observatories' special requirements for highly sensitive laser and vacuum equipment, including vibration isolation and reduction.
The LIGO facilities at each location consist of a main building, with a long pipe that extends perpendicularly away from the building. Mirrors are installed at each end of the pipes and laser beams are directed toward the mirrors in a near-vacuum environment. Scientists hope to split a laser beam down the vacuum tubes with the mirrors bouncing the laser back. Precision machines will measure differences when the beams reunite, with the assumption that gravity waves compress space inside one tube and stretch it in the other, creating tiny, but detectable, movement. Parsons used 3D CAD modeling to integrate design disciplines and engineering requirements.
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