A former gold mine in South Dakota is being transformed into part of the Deep Underground Neutrino Experiment, or DUNE, through an unusually difficult underground construction effort. Instead of hauling ore to the surface, crews are now sending massive steel components deep below ground to build out the project.
One of the standout moves involves a 43-foot steel beam weighing 15,890 pounds. The beam is being lowered 4,850 feet down the old mine while standing upright inside a cage that is only 4.5 feet wide. It is just one of roughly 2,100 steel pieces expected to make the same trip before the end of summer.
The scale of the job is enormous. The project is reportedly moving about 10 million pounds of structural steel nearly a mile underground, turning the old mining shaft into a supply route for a major physics facility. That makes the work as much a logistics challenge as a science milestone.
The effort highlights how an industrial site built for gold extraction is getting a second life in research. Where mines often shut down and fade into history, this South Dakota site is being adapted into a key part of a major underground neutrino experiment.
