MX3D printed a fully functional stainless steel bridge to cross one of the oldest and most famous canals in the center of Amsterdam. It is an example of successful 3D-printed bridge projects in Amsterdam, and it is also inspiring for related projects and 3D printing, all over the world.
The MX3D Bridge was designed by Joris Laarman Lab and engineered by Arup. Additional expertise was provided by ArcelorMittal, Autodesk, Heijmans, Lenovo, ABB, Air Liquide & Oerlikon, Plymovent, and TU Delft. The municipality of Amsterdam is the first customer of our collaborative bridge-building department.
A Smarter Bridge
MX3D 3D printed a 12-meter-long stainless steel pedestrian bridge, which has now been installed, spanning one of Amsterdam’s canals in the historic city center since 2021. We have teamed up with a consortium of mathematicians, IoT specialists, and engineers to develop a smart sensor network to monitor the bridge’s health in real time. A great example of data-centric engineering.
The partners joining the MX3D project include: Autodesk , The Alan Turing Institute , and the Amsterdam Institute for Advanced Metropolitan Solutions (AMS) .
The team from The Alan Turing Institute is responsible for designing and installing a sensor network on the bridge. These sensors will collect structural measurements such as strain, displacement, and vibration, and will measure environmental factors such as air quality and temperature, enabling engineers to measure the bridge’s health in real time and monitor how it changes over its lifespan. This data will also allow us to “teach” the bridge to understand what is happening on it, how many people are crossing it, and how quickly.
The data from the sensors will be input into a ‘digital twin’ of the bridge, a living computer model that will reflect the physical bridge with growing accuracy in real time as the data comes in. The performance and behavior of the physical bridge can be tested against its digital twin, which will provide valuable insights to inform designs for future 3D printed metallic structures. It will also enable the current 3D bridge to be modified to suit any required changes in use, ensuring it is safe for pedestrians under all conditions.
Autodesk is supplying the cloud services that will power the bridge’s data collection and processing. Autodesk is also working with the Alan Turing Institute researchers to develop machine learning algorithms that will enable the bridge to interpret and react intelligently to its environment. AMS will be implementing new ways to use, visualize, and connect the bridge’s data to other sources of environmental data in the Metropolitan Area of Amsterdam.
Building a 3D-printed bridge in Amsterdam’s Bridge District involves relatively high upfront costs, a multi-year timeline, and careful regulatory coordination. The project required significant investment in robotic 3D-printing technology, stainless-steel materials, engineering expertise, testing, and digital monitoring systems, making it more expensive than a conventional small pedestrian bridge at this experimental stage. The timeline extended over several years: the design and technology development started around 2015, the robotic printing itself took several months, and additional time was needed for structural testing, sensor integration, and approvals before the bridge was installed and opened to the public in 2021. Inaugurated by Queen Máxima of the Netherlands herself, the bridge was approved under a temporary municipal permit because the bridge was placed in a historic canal area, and urban planning and heritage considerations also played a role, leading to close collaboration between MX3D, engineers, researchers, and the City of Amsterdam.
