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@article{Weber:2026:10.1016/j.autcon.2025.106638,
author = {Weber, B and Meng, X and Gardner, L},
doi = {10.1016/j.autcon.2025.106638},
journal = {Automation in Construction},
title = {Optimised and 3D printed steel garden bridge: from design to experimental verification},
url = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.autcon.2025.106638},
volume = {181},
year = {2026}
}
TY - JOUR
AB - Wire-arc directed energy deposition (DED-Arc), or wire arc additive manufacturing (WAAM), enables large-scale, intricate metallic components to be created in an automated manner, with great promise in construction. This paper presents the design, manufacture and experimental verification of a 4 m-span, East Asian garden bridge-inspired and structurally optimised DED-Arc steel pedestrian bridge. The bridge consists of optimised DED-Arc steel tubular components as the main load-carrying structure, and wooden boards on top as the decking. The structural performance of the bridge was examined through non-destructive testing of the fully assembled bridge up to the design load and destructive testing to failure of a duplicate of the main arch, which confirmed the load-carrying capacity of the bridge and showed generally good correlation with the prior numerical simulations. This study successfully demonstrates the feasibility of integrating DED-Arc with structural optimisation at scale, and its significant role in construction automation and decarbonisation.
AU - Weber,B
AU - Meng,X
AU - Gardner,L
DO - 10.1016/j.autcon.2025.106638
PY - 2026///
SN - 0926-5805
TI - Optimised and 3D printed steel garden bridge: from design to experimental verification
T2 - Automation in Construction
UR - http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.autcon.2025.106638
VL - 181
ER -