The World's First Concrete 3D Printed Bridge Was Completed In China In Just 450 Hours

There is an undeniable fact that China is developing stronger than ever and its innovation is evolving in diverse ways. And naturally, along with the development of the country, China's architecture and construction industry are growing briskly as well.

Recently, a team from the Tsinghua University School of Architecture in Beijing has built the world's first fully 3D printed concrete bridge. There are no humans intervention, the whole structure of the bridge was done entirely by machines.

As an homage to the past, the team took inspiration of the historic Zhaozhou Bridge, which was built in Hebei Province (North China) during the Sui Dynasty (581-618).

As per the leader of the team, Professor Xu Weiguo, the 86 feet long bridge was built by 44 3D-printed concrete units, each of them approximately 3 x 3 x 5 feet. And its dome-shaped structure comprised of 68 individual concrete slabs.

While the iconic Zhaozhou bridge required a decade to build, this first fully 3D printed concrete bridge was built and finished in only 450 hours. The time for the whole process from beginning to finish beat the record time needed to construct a bridge.

The Zhaozhou bridge in Hebei Province

Moreover, the 3-D printed bridge construction also saved 33 percent of expenses compared to traditional construction.

According to a release posted by Tsinghua University: