Jan is Director of Technologies at Lloyd’s Register Foundation and is responsible for the Foundation's activities in enhancing safety through high technical standards.
MX3D: Amsterdam’s 3D printed steel bridge
Project in partnership with the University of Cambridge, Imperial College London, Newcastle University and The Alan Turing Institute.
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Duration
This project's duration was 2017 - 2025
Value of grant
£320,000
Partner info
MX3D are a Dutch company specialising in robotic 3D metal printing.
Contact details
Groundbreaking 3D-printed steel bridge provides real-time insights to monitor structural health and performance.
Find out more
Visit the MX3D websiteOverview
In 2017, Lloyd's Register Foundation supported Dutch engineering scale-up MX3D to design, build and install the world’s first full-sized 3D printed steel bridge over Oudezijds Achterburgwal, a canal in a busy district of Amsterdam.
Academic partners, including University of Cambridge, Imperial College London, Newcastle University and The Alan Turing Institute, helped install state-of-the-art sensors on the bridge to gather real time insights on environmental and structural factors including strain, displacement, vibration. This data feeds into a digital twin of the bridge that has been used to monitor performance and enhance our knowledge of smart infrastructure and structural integrity.
Since it was decommissioned, the bridge has been awarded the American Welding Society’s prestigious "Outstanding Development in Welded Fabrication" award, joining the ranks of iconic past winners such as the Hoover Dam, Mars Curiosity Rover, and the Panama Canal.
MX3D has also successfully introduced this smart infrastructure technology in other demanding industries including Space, Maritime, Nuclear, and Energy.
Visit the MX3D website for more information on the programme. If you would like to collaborate with MX3D, contact our programme manager using the details below.
“We’d never have been able to work with Imperial College or The Alan Turing Institute without the Foundation’s help. The collaboration that the Foundation inspired is proving the practicality of 3D printing. It’s helping to change how we think about infrastructure – and that will make the world a safer place.”
Gijs Van Der Velden CEO, MX3D
