MX3D’s 3D Printed Metal Bridge Has Officially Been Installed in the Center of Amsterdam

On July 15, the Queen of the Netherlands, Máxima Zorreguieta Cerruti, inaugurated the 3D-printed metal bridge installed in the city center of Amsterdam, right in the Red Light District. It took 6 years for the Dutch company MX3D to allow the public to walk on its 3D printed bridge, made from WAAM (Wire Arc Additive Manufacturing) technology. A titanic job which nevertheless required 6,000 kilos of steel! The city of Amsterdam granted a permit for two to this structure and in any case, won over Queen Máxima.

If you follow the news of additive manufacturing, you have certainly heard of the MX3D Bridge, this bridge built layer by layer by four robotic arms. The bridge is the result of collaboration between several manufacturers including Air Liquide, ABB, and Autodesk. It measures 12.2 meters long, 6.3 meters wide, and 2.1 meters high. The printing process spanned 2017 to 2018, relying on techniques such as topological optimization or generative design .

The inauguration of the bridge. (Photo Credit: Adriaan de Groot)

Gijs van der Velden, CEO and co-founder of MX3D adds, ” When we started this project, the bridge was over 100 times bigger than any other part ever 3D printed in metal, and now that it’s finished, I still have good reason to believe that it will remain the largest printed metal object for years to come. Our robotic technology finally enables the 3D printing of optimized designs of larger sizes in metal. This results in a significant reduction in weight and reduced impact for parts manufactured in the tooling, oil and gas, and construction industries. “