World's first 3D printed bridge aims to cross Amsterdam canal
If you're someone who brushes aside 3D printing as a cheap gimmick or wasteful venture, it's time to shut down that train of thought, as the technology turns out an ever more mind-boggling array of useful, functional items, including airplane parts, prosthetic limbs, replacement arteries, jewelry, musical instruments, high heels, and even rocket ships.
In yet another giant leap for 3D kind, A Dutch startup company has generated a lot of excitement when it announced plans this month to build the world's first printed bridge across an Amsterdam canal.
“Using robotic printers that can ‘draw’ steel structures in 3D,” MX3D says on its website, “We will print a (pedestrian) bridge over water in the centre of Amsterdam.”
The bridge designed by Joris Laarman uses a new Autodesk software, itself a project in development, to control several 6-axis industrial robot arms as they virtually draw the bridge in the clear air, drip by drip in white hot metal, and slide forward on each newly built section (go ahead and let that imagery sink in for a second, because we will all apparently be living in a real-life Sim City).
Looking at the artist renderings, the bridge appears something out of a Doctor Who-meets-Tim Burton vision of old Europe, with the wild energy of Van Gogh in the squiggling metal bands that form the bridge base (and induce disturbing trippy sensations when animated).
Should the project succeed, the application of the technology is infinite, potentially changing construction practices across the board, especially for working in high or otherwise dangerous environments to humans, such high on buildings and bridges, or possibly other planets.
“We believe that we are at the beginning of a revolution, the website declares. "With our MX3D Bridge project we will showcase how digital fabrication is finally entering the world of large scale, functional objects made of durable materials.”
No specific project has been awarded to MX3D as of yet, but ongoing talks with the Amsterdam city council aim for a completed bridge by the middle of 2017.