Longest 3-D printed concrete bridge opened in Shanghai

Shanghai hosts the longest 3D-printed bridge made of concrete in the world.

The construction was accomplished by a research team from the Tsinghua University School of Architecture in Beijing. The pedestrian bridge is 26.3-meter long and 3.6-meter wide and is constructed by Shanghai Wisdom Bay Investment Management Company to span a canal in Shanghai's Baoshan District.

The design is based on the Zhaozhou Bridge, the country's oldest standing bridge, which crosses the Jiaohe River in the Hebei Province of China. The crossing is made from limestone slabs. The bridge contains stress and strain sensors to provide data about its condition in real time.

The construction was completed after 44 3D-printed concrete segments were assembled in just 450 hours. 2 robotic arms and additional technological features were utilized to 3D-print the bridge. According to the Chinese university, the total cost of the project is 3 times less compared to a conventional bridge construction with the same size.

Professor Xu Weiguo, leader of the research team, stated: "3D printing is a manufacturing revolution. The technology greatly reduces the need for skilled labor, a commodity expected to be in severely short supply in China in the next decade or so." He also revealed that a 3D-printed house will soon be constructed by the team.

Before its construction, the researchers created a smaller model to ensure that the design was capable of supporting the weight of pedestrians.