Bridging the Gap With Technology

Over the course of the years there have been a multitude of changes to every aspect of personal and professional lives due to technology, particularly since the development of computers. The reach of technology is seemingly endless in its scope and what it can accomplish, hindered only by the imaginations and determination of people.

The engineering and construction industry is no exception to this, with new ways to perform tasks, calculations, and simulations coming out all of the time. Almost every one of these changes are beneficial and have led to a wealth of new opportunities. Either making existing methods of practice faster and more cost effective, or opening up entirely new methods of approach.
That is why it’s important to stay informed and up-to-date with all of the latest technological developments, regardless of age, profession and location. So now we’d like to talk about a piece of new 3D printing technology that is being refined, and some of the benefits we see that it has the potential to offer.

3D printing technologies in themselves are not a particularly new idea. The ability to do so has been around for a few years now, but until recently the materials that you could print with were fairly limited and results have been widely varied in terms of their quality. However, for some time now there have been forays into designing and implementing new ways to print with a plethora of materials. Focusing not only on the type of materials used for the printing, but also the quality and consistency of the print.

One exciting example of this can be found in the impressive work done by a Dutch company by the name of MX3D, who have created the world’s first 3D printed steel bridge. Over the course of 6 months, with the help of 4 specially designed robots, and using approximately 1100km of steel wire; the company created an impressive otherworldly structure spanning a little over 12m in length, 6m wide and weighing 4,500kg. The excitement and wonder of the bridge they have constructed though, pales in comparison to the technology behind it.

Utilising and developing this and similar methods, could provide numerous benefits. Such as:

• Lower building costs
• Quicken time for project completion
• Reduce safety risks
• Give the ability for better, more intelligent designs

Although, in its current state there are a lot of obstacles to overcome, this bridge and other similar works are just a glimpse at some of what is to come. For more details on MX3D’s bridge, as well as some other projects they are working on, you can find it on their website.
As for us at BellMont, we’re looking forward to what the future holds and what opportunities are on our horizon.

Let us know what you think about this emerging technology and leave a comment, and to keep up to date with all the latest with BellMont, join our newsletter and follow us on Facebook and LinkedIn.