When we couple 3D printing with ‘digital twin’ technology, we can then accelerate the infrastructure design process, ensuring that we design optimal and efficient structures with respect to environmental impact, architectural freedom and manufacturing costs.

Professor Mark Girolami

The futuristic multi award-winning bridge, designed by Joris Laarman Lab, with Arup as lead engineer, has been placed over one of the oldest canals in Amsterdam’s city centre, the Oudezijds Achterburgwal canal. The bridge was officially opened on 15 July by Her Majesty Queen Máxima of the Netherlands.

Printed by Dutch technology MX3D using robotic arms, the 12 metre-long bridge is also equipped with an innovative sensor network, linked to a mathematical computer model forming a ‘digital twin’ of the physical bridge and its digital representation. The ‘digital twin’ monitors the bridge performance in real-time. The ‘smart’ bridge, in effect, serves as a living laboratory, with pedestrians, cyclists and runners generating data every time they cross the bridge. This data will help to monitor the bridge’s structure and provide information about how it is being used.

More than 100 sensors attached to the bridge will monitor strain, movement, vibrations and weather conditions as people cross it. The data collected will be sent to a ‘digital twin’ of the bridge, which will help engineers assess how the bridge is faring, alerting them if problems occur and when maintenance might be required. The data will also provide input and lessons learned for future builds, helping designers understand how 3D-printed steel could be used in more complex projects. Statistical methodology will be utilised to understand more about the material itself and machine learning will be used to spot trends in the data pointing to potential changes, issues of maintenance or necessary modifications.