The Large Hadron Collider is finally complete again, after the last replacement magnet was lowered into the giant ring yesterday.

Work at the particle accelerator crunched to a halt last September when a connection between magnets failed, causing extensive damage and the removal and replacement of 53 magnets.

“This is an important milestone in the repair process,” says Steve Myers, the director for accelerators and technology at CERN, which runs the collider (press release). “It gets us close to where we were before the incident, and allows us to concentrate our efforts on installing the systems that will ensure a similar incident won’t happen again.”

Now the magnets will be connected alongside systems designed to stop any more mishaps. If all goes to plan the LHC will restart in autumn and bring on the science.

Image: the 15m long magnet is lowered into the LHC / CERN