A Madrid park made history with the installation of the first ever pedestrian bridge created from a 3D printer.
The pioneering bridge was created by a team from the Institute of Advanced Architecture of Catalonia, a Barcelona based research and education center that worked with a contingent of architects, mechanical and structural engineers, and municipal representatives to bring the design to life.
The 40ft bridge spans a stretch of water in the Castilla-La Mancha park in Alcobendas, north of the Spanish capital.
It has beaten a 3D printing construction project, a steel bridge coming up over a canal in Amsterdam.
Meanwhile, the Madrid bridge is made up of eight parts, each one comprising layers of fused concrete powder micro-reinforced with thermoplastic polypropylene.
The 3D printed bridge, which reflects the complexities of nature's forms, was developed through parametric design, which allows to optimize the distribution of materials and minimize the amount of waste by recycling the raw material during manufacture.
It's a milestone for the construction sector at international level, since, to date, this technology has not been applied in the field of civil engineering.
