Shanghai opens world’s longest 3D-printed concrete bridge | CNN

Courtesy JCDA

A team led by Xu Weiguo at Tsinghua University's School of Architecture completed the world's longest 3D-printed concrete bridge in Shanghai.

Courtesy JCDA

The bridge took 450 hours to produce and was unveiled in January 2019. Scroll through the gallery for some of the world's most spectacular bridges.

Courtesy NEXT architects

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Courtesy Urban Redevelopment Authority

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Courtesy COBE, DISSING+WEITLING and COWI

There's more than meets the eye with this structure. The bridge, designed collaboratively by COBE Architects Dissing + Weitling and COWI, includes passageways for both trains and cars, as well as a full station and park-and-ride facilities. It's set to open in 2018.

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Uruguayan architect Rafael Viñoly's circular bridge can only be truly appreciated from above. The circular bridge, which replaced a raft crossing, creates the effect of a lagoon within a lagoon.

Courtesy BCQ arquitectura barcelona

BCQ Arquitectura Barcelona's plant-covered bridge takes Heatherwick's green concept one step further. Their proposed upgrades to the existing Sarajevo Bridge include photoluminescent stones to light the pathway without electricity and concrete that converts pollution into harmless substances.

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Courtesy Studio Olafur Eliasson

Artist Olafur Eliasson was inspired by the city's history as a port town when he designed Cirkelbroen. The five round platforms and wired masts give the illusion of boats floating on the harbor.

ChinaFotoPress/ChinaFotoPress via Getty Images

Haim Dotan's Zhangjiajie Canyon Bridge is the largest glass-bottomed bridge in the world. Aside from supporting visitors, the bridge, which is 69 feet long and 718 feet high, will be also be used for bungee jumps and fashion shows.

CNN —

It’s 86 feet long and was created entirely with a 3D printer. Shanghai is now home to the world’s longest 3D-printed concrete bridge, produced by a team from the Tsinghua University School of Architecture in Beijing.

The pedestrian crossing was modeled on the famed Zhaozhou Bridge, which was built between 589 and 618 in Hebei province, northern China, and is the country’s oldest standing bridge. That crossing was made from limestone slabs, while the new structure, found in Shanghai’s Baoshan district, was created using far more modern construction techniques.

Courtesy JCDA

Shanghai is now home to the world's longest 3D printed concrete bridge.

The record-breaking bridge may not be as beautiful as its ancient predecessor, but what it lacks in aesthetics it makes up for in technology – it was produced in just 450 hours and cost just a fraction of the usual price.

Designed by professor Xu Weiguo, the bridge’s body consists of 44 3D-printed concrete units, each measuring about 3x3x5 feet, while the flowing sides are made from 68 separate concrete slabs.

The bridge was printed piece by piece, using two robotic arms and technology developed by Xu. Tsinghua University claims the project cost a third less than a standard bridge of equivalent size.

02:26 - Source: CNN

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Before construction started, a smaller model was created to test the design’s integrity and prove its ability to support pedestrians. The bridge also contains systems that monitor internal stress and strain, helping its designers to track the structure’s condition in real time.

The world’s first 3D-printed concrete bridge opened in the Netherlands in October 2017, measuring a comparatively small 26 feet. Created by Eindhoven University of Technology in the town of Gemert, the structure was designed to carry cyclists and comprises about 800 layers of concrete.