[jacquesm]

I actually think that the organic look shows off the fact that it was 3D printed in a very original way. If it ended up being a utilitarian 'boring' construction then there would be no point in 3D printing it in the first place. But there is no other way that I'm aware of short of a huge cast (and that's a big if given the hollow spaces) to make this bridge in any other way.

[skookumchuck]

> If it ended up being a utilitarian 'boring' construction then there would be no point in 3D printing it in the first place.

There's a great deal of point to it - saving money in material and fabrication costs.

[adkaplan]

Something like https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CtYRfMzmWFU could be a happy medium. Shapes that must be 3d printed but forms that are less fluff and more function.

[jacquesm]

This is pioneering work, saving money in material and fabrication costs is something that will happen in the longer term when the tech is more mature.

This is a technology demonstration, not an example of super high efficiency. It also took much longer to make than it would have taken to make it in a more traditional way.

That said it still came in rather competitive compared to the alternatives, which says quite a bit about how manufacturers of such structures normally charge.

[ofrzeta]

Having a welding robot run for 6 months straight will hardly reduce fabrication costs. Given the price of MIG welding wire it's also dubious if you could reduce material costs.