As the world’s first 3D-printed bridge begins to take shape, Air Liquide supplies gases and expertise

The MX3D Bridge in Amsterdam is the first large-scale additive manufacturing project in The Netherlands.

Air Liquide is sponsor of the “MX3D Bridge”, project, a world premiere that was unveiled today. Imagined by Dutch designers from the Joris Laarman Lab, the goal of this project is to construct a stainless steel bridge in the historic center of Amsterdam using an innovative additive manufacturing process (large scale metal 3D printing by robotic arc welding) that makes it possible to build large scale works in real time, without human intervention.

For this project, Air Liquide will lend its expertise for the research and development phase and will provide its premium shielding gases, used in arc welding, from its ARCAL^TM range for the construction of the bridge, which should be completed by the spring of 2017.

This large scale additive manufacturing demo project, being fabricated in a single part and autonomously, prefigures a profound transformation in the manufacture of the industrial objects in the future. Digital technologies occupy a central place in it. By participating in this demonstration, which is being conducted using the open innovation approach, Air Liquide illustrates its ability to explore new territories and enable new technologies to emerge.