A Marine Corps unit successfully built a concrete bridge using additive manufacturing (3D printing). The Marines, attached to the Camp Pendleton, Calif.-based 1stMarine Logistics Group, fabricated the bridge with assistance from the Army Corps of Engineers and the Marine Corps Systems Command Advanced Manufacturing Operations Cell (AMOC). When they used the Automated Construction of Expeditionary Structures (ACES) printer, it marked the first time a bridge was constructed using 3D printing in the western hemisphere. Navy SEABEEs from the Port Hueneme, Calif.-based Naval Mobile Construction Battalion 5 helped by operating a mixer that produced enough concrete to build the footbridge. The Army engineers ensured that the structure could bear foot traffic before Marines began using it.
In time, the Marines envision using 3D printing to build more bridges, as well as barracks huts, and provide humanitarian relief as well. For the immediate future, the Marines intend to continue training and learning more about the potential practical aspects of the technology.
