The CT-PPS project: detector hardware and operational experience

The CMS-TOTEM Precision Proton Spectrometer allows extending the LHC physics program by measuring protons in the very forward regions of CMS. Tracking and timing detectors have been installed along the beam pipe at $\sim 210$~m from the CMS interaction point on both sides of the LHC tunnel. The tracking system consists of a station of silicon strip detectors and one of silicon pixel detectors on each side. The latter is composed of six planes of 3D silicon pixel sensors bump-bonded to the PSI46dig ROC developed for the CMS Phase I Pixel Tracker upgrade. A track resolution of $\sim 10\ \mu$m is obtained. The future goal is to replace the present strip stations with pixel ones in order to ensure better multi-track reconstruction. Each timing station is made of three planes of diamond detectors and one plane equipped with an Ultra-Fast Silicon Detector (UFSD). A timing resolution of a few tens of picoseconds can be achieved with the present detector; a large R\&D effort is ongoing to reach the $10$ ps target resolution. This contribution describes the hardware characteristics and the present status of the CT-PPS project. The operational experience during the 2017 data taking is also presented.