Innovative pedestrian bridge with 3D concrete printing

A pedestrian bridge was exhibited at the Bauma 2022 Expedition. It was designed, developed and manufactured by Witteveen+Bos and Concrefy. This innovative bridge consists of a footbridge supported by two 3D concrete printed beams with constantly changing cross-sections. This project is a perfect example of the design freedom and the integrated and fast production process made possible by 3D concrete printing.

Advantages of 3D concrete printing

The bridge consists of 20 printed elements compressed by four tension rods. The printing process was carefully and parametrically designed to improve stiffness, minimise local stresses, enable the integration of two prestressing rods and facilitate testing.

Multi disciplinary collaboration

This project is a great example of the integration and collaboration possible in projects using 3D concrete printing. For the construction of this bridge, there was constant communication between designers, engineers and structural engineers, with design changes being made until the day before printing. This allowed the team to make several design iterations in a short period of time based on results of structural analysis, safety regulations, print tests, transport and construction site constraints.

Successful delivery

The bridge was successfully completed in time for the Bauma exhibition, where it was exhibited as part of Umdasch Group Ventures and Concrefy. It complied with Eurocode and local safety regulations and passed all safety tests.