Bam plans to unveil its 3D printer concrete creation ability to the United Kingdom. It’s also negotiating with Heathrow about utilizing it on the expansion of the airport.
The contractor started a concrete 3D printing company in Eindhoven, Netherlands, in January. It is also working on the world’s largest 3D printed bridge for Nijmegen city. Royal Bam plans to utilize its knowledge in other markets.
“We are talking to different customers. For example, London Heathrow has a huge amount of work that needs to be done [on the expansion], as well as a big problem with how to do it logistically.” Jeroen Nuijten, Bam Infraconsult innovation adviser said.
“They are in the process of creating a tender, and we’ll see if we are [selected as] a partner for them.” He added. However, Heathrow Airport declined to comment on the discussions.
The commercial delivery director of the Airport Emma-Jane Houghton said in a statement that the expansion would be achieved through combined-use construction hubs. The function of the hubs would change with time.
Also, it intends to utilize four offsite hubs to achieve major extension work. This involves a new runway. Mr. Nuijten stated that the agent from London Underground and Thames Tideway have also toured the firm’s 3D printing company.
The procedure could turn out to be more efficient than traditional concrete builds. This is according to Menno de Jonge, the digital construction director of Royal Bam Group. “At the moment we [work with 3D-printed components] at about the same price as traditional construction, but we estimate that in 1-2 years, the price will drop to about 75 to 50 percent of that.” He explained.
“With the Netherlands factory we can ship [3D-printed] components to the UK no problem. We are also thinking about opening factories in the UK and Ireland.” He further revealed.
Previously, Bam had its target of creating a single-storey 3D printed home by the summer of 2019. Reaching the target has been somewhat stalled because of a problem with getting planning consent. This is according to Marco Vink, the marketing manager of Saint Gobain Weber Beamix.
“We are ready to produce the house but you can imagine when you start to do something new there are no rules or regulations. The local authority has to approve something which only exists in plans. That is a little bit difficult and takes a bit of time,” he stated
