Architecture

Sensor-packed footbridge demonstrates efficacy of flax construction

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The Smart Circular Bridge spans 15 m (roughly 50 ft) in the city of Almere, the Netherlands
Smart Circular Bridge
The Smart Circular Bridge spans 15 m (roughly 50 ft) in the city of Almere, the Netherlands
Smart Circular Bridge
The Smart Circular Bridge was built using around 3.5 tons of flax fibers
Smart Circular Bridge
Before installation, the Smart Circular Bridge was tested for weight load and it will continue to be monitored using almost 100 embedded sensors
Smart Circular Bridge
The Smart Circular Bridge is the first of three planned bridges, with another going to be installed in the Netherlands, and a third in Germany
Smart Circular Bridge
The production of the Smart Circular Bridge involved a vacuum infusion process
Smart Circular Bridge
The Smart Circular Bridge's handrail is also made from flax. It was woven using robots and installed by human builders
Smart Circular Bridge
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Flax is a very useful crop, being used in everything from e-racers to campers. With concrete being such a major contributor of carbon emissions, a team led by the Eindhoven University of Technology (TU/e) is researching whether it could also be used as a greener alternative building material, and to this end has constructed a sensor-packed footbridge to prove its efficacy.

The project is named the Smart Circular Bridge and builds on previous research by TU/e. It involves a team of five universities, seven companies, and three municipalities, and is located in the city of Almere, the Netherlands. The bridge can be used by pedestrians and cyclists and spans 15 m (roughly 50 ft). It's rated to safely hold the weight of up to 275 people at a time.

The build process for the main structure of the bridge is totally unlike constructing a standard bridge and involves the flax being laid on top of blocks of polyurethane, which lend the bridge its basic shape. A vacuum infusion process is carried out to remove all the air, with a resin then poured onto it all to hold the entire structure together. Finally, it's left to cure for around a day or so.

The bridge's decorative railings, meanwhile, were produced by robotically weaving flax fiber and are deliberately intricate, to underline the aesthetic and technical possibilities of flax.

The production of the Smart Circular Bridge involved a vacuum infusion process
Smart Circular Bridge

"The first Smart Circular Bridge in Almere uses around 3.2 tonnes of flax fibers, mainly from French production," explained the TU/e press release. "The fibers, woven into mats, are impregnated with a polyester resin. In the first Smart Circular Bridge, 25 percent of this resin is based on biomass. For the coming bridges, the goal is to increase this share to about 60 percent. To achieve this goal, waste products from biodiesel production and recycled PET bottles are used. Innovations in the project include not only the development of a suitable resin that can handle the residual moisture of the flax fibers, but also the development of a cobalt-free accelerator. One of the advantages of this composite material is that flax is a fast-growing plant – compared to wood, for example."

The bridge is currently in use and is being continuously monitored with almost 100 integrated sensors that ensure it can withstand general wear and tear and changing seasons. The sensors can pick up any deformations and if a predefined limit is reached, the researches will receive an alert. In a neat touch, the data can be viewed on a public website.

Going forward, the Smart Circular Bridge is just the first of three bridges that will be made using flax over the next few years – with the second planned for the Netherlands, and the third slated for Germany.

Sources: Smart Circular Bridge, TU/e

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2 comments
TechGazer
It sounds non-green to me. That's a lot of polymer, which will release nanoparticles over it's lifespan, and then be a disposal problem. Are they planning on it being cut into chunks and buried or burned? How is it greener than wooden construction, which has centuries of use for bridges? If maintenance is an issue for wood, a layer of protective polymer on the wood would still be greener by being much less in volume, and there may be even greener wood protection techniques.

This sounds more like trying to create a profitable market for a waste product. "Flax is green! Just ignore the tons of petrochemicals used, and the disposal issues."
christopher
Sounds like fibreglass, swapping the glass for the flax - to end up with a product that's 300% weaker in stress and 50% weaker in strain, with no engineering history or knowledge for its safe use and longevity etc.

The extra resin you need for this to match actual fibreglass is going to make it vastly more expensive and less environmentally friendly. Maybe just burn the flax as biofuel to refine (and this make green) the glass fibres, assuming you can't buy green fibreglass in the first place?