The first bridge in the world made with additive manufacturing in Amsterdam

While in Venice we will find the first 3D printed concrete walkway (pedestrian bridge built without reinforcement or mortar), in Amsterdam we will encounter the first 3D printed steel pedestrian bridge. The long-awaited project was announced in 2015 and its construction began in 2019, being ready this year. Spanning more than 40 feet across the channel, the MX3D company has used an additive manufacturing process that could revolutionize the world; although the bridge could have been ready much earlier, objective factors delayed its testing.

The first bridge in the world made with additive manufacturing in Amsterdam

According to the Associated Press, the 3D-printed stainless steel structure, dubbed the MX3D Smart Bridge, will remain in testing for another two years while the previous existing bridge over the canal undergoes renovation.

In this two-year trial, the MX3D Smart Bridge will serve as a “living laboratory,” allowing researchers at the Alan Turing Institute to monitor and analyze sensor performance and real-time management of pedestrian traffic.

“No 3D printed metal structure large enough and strong enough to handle foot traffic has been built until now,” says Professor Leroy Gardner of Imperial College. “We tested and simulated its structure and components throughout the printing process, and it’s great to finally see it open to the public.”

Experts at the Alan Turing Institute say that “the data collected will allow researchers and engineers to measure the ‘health’ of the bridge in real time, monitor how it changes over its lifetime, and understand how the public interacts with a 3D printed infrastructure.” The performance and behavior of the bridge will be tested to give us an idea of ​​how new construction projects will perform in the future.»

As researchers examine the performance of the first 3D-printed steel structure, city officials will be on the lookout for a new type of tourist: a tourist who isn’t looking to partake in the city’s myriad vices, but rather a tourist who craves a boardwalk.

“This bridge will attract a new type of tourist: the walking tourist fascinated by architecture and design, who will go some way to changing Amsterdam’s party ‘reputation’,” says Micha Mos, a councilor at Amsterdam’s city hall.

That said, the world’s first bridge made using additive manufacturing – the MX3D Smart Bridge – is sure to become not only an attraction for tourists and design enthusiasts, but also proof that infrastructure can be made differently.

Conclusion

The completion of the first 3D-printed steel pedestrian bridge in Amsterdam marks a significant and revolutionary milestone in the application of additive manufacturing to civil engineering and infrastructure. Announced in 2015 and finalized by the MX3D company, this project successfully spans over 40 feet across a canal, demonstrating the feasibility and capability of printing large-scale, load-bearing metal structures. While the construction itself took time due to objective factors delaying testing, the successful deployment of this bridge—much like the earlier 3D-printed concrete walkway in Venice—validates an additive manufacturing process that has the potential to fundamentally revolutionize the construction world. This technique offers new possibilities for on-demand fabrication, complex geometries, and potentially localized repair and construction, dramatically changing how future urban infrastructure is designed and built.