UK infrastructure is moving towards industrialised 3D concrete printing at scale. Gemma Small, sustainable engineering discipline manager at Costain, explains how this will drive sustainable construction
Delivering more efficiently, delivering more sustainably and delivering where it’s needed. That’s the mantra that construction companies are living by. The UK’s 10 Year Infrastructure Strategy and Infrastructure Pipeline has heralded a more structured and considered approach to delivering infrastructure, but as the pipeline continues to grow, so does the impact on our planet. It is estimated that 25% of the UK’s greenhouse gas emissions are directly attributable to the built environment, and there is an onus on the entire sector to take action to reduce carbon.
The good news is that UK infrastructure has reached an exciting inflexion point in industrialised delivery.
An industry ready to receive
Driven by a convergence of factors, including technological maturity, material innovation, advances in robotics and automation, and a genuine drive for sustainability, industrialised 3D printing is no longer viewed as a niche technology used in isolated environments but an increasingly important component of the construction delivery model of the future.
This is something that we’ve seen at Costain. We have a great track record of experimenting with a range of new technologies and digital tools, and 3D printing concrete is no different. We installed the UK’s first 3D-printed concrete water chamber for United Utilities, and on the A30 Chiverton to Carland Cross scheme, the technique was used to construct headwall structures for 33 wildlife corridors.
Figure 1: Headwall structure on A30 scheme
These were useful but isolated examples for testing 3D printing, and we’re moving into a new phase where large, complex civil infrastructure programmes present opportunities to utilise this technology at scale.
It’s particularly effective for repeatable production, and one of the reasons we’ve decided to deploy it as part of our programme of works on the East Coast Cluster on Teesside. Here, we’re working as the delivery partner to construct the Northern Endurance Partnership’s onshore CO2 gathering system, a network of pipelines that will carry and store CO2 for Teesside-based carbon capture projects.
Along with our supplier A E Yates, we’ve brought on board Hyperion Robotics to deliver 90 high-strength, low-carbon concrete pipe support bases, or sleepers, using its advanced robotic manufacturing, 3D printing and digital technology.
So what does this mean for sustainability?
In short, it’s significant. And the sustainability case for 3D printed concrete is particularly compelling because it addresses several industry challenges at the same time.
Traditional concrete pouring often relies on complex formwork structures and large volumes of material that increase embodied carbon and generate material waste.
3D printing concrete changes this dynamic entirely. One of the key sustainability benefits is that it enables concrete to be placed only where structurally required. This means that 3D printing enables more efficient structural forms that can significantly reduce material consumption compared with traditional approaches, which is hugely significant given that concrete is, by nature, a carbon-intensive material. Additionally, lighter-weight sleepers reduce transport emissions and positively impact on-site health and safety due to easier placement of elements.
Figure 2: Prototype pipe supports
The removal or reduction of formwork also lowers broader waste generation. On Teesside, Hyperion’s innovative technology eliminates the need for formwork entirely and enables precise, repeatable production of sleepers. This approach, when compared to traditional precast solutions, will require less soil excavation, reduce concrete and steel use by 40% and lower carbon emissions by up to 50%. These engineering-led 3D printed solutions are up to ten times stronger than designs produced with traditional materials, despite being up to 60% lighter.
It’s an incredibly exciting time and a huge opportunity for the industry to embrace the technology. Indeed, Finnish-headquartered Hyperion Robotics will oversee its role in the project from Forge I, a new UK manufacturing facility it has created near Scunthorpe in response to increasing demand, from data centres to new National Grid substations.
Figure 3: 3D concrete sleepers
Against the backdrop of rising demand for low-carbon infrastructure and pressure to increase productivity and efficiency, additive manufacturing not only enables the industry to rethink how assets are delivered, but how they are designed in the first place.
Indeed, the real significance of 3D printed concrete is more than its ability to ‘print’ structures. It represents a shift from traditional construction methodologies towards a manufacturing-led mindset.
This is something we’re increasingly realising through Production Thinking, Costain’s approach to infrastructure delivery, which combines modern methods of construction with new technologies and techniques. Production Thinking has shown that it’s possible to significantly improve efficiency while reducing the carbon footprint compared to traditional methods.
By applying the principles of advanced manufacturing to the built environment, delivery teams can focus on key efficiency drivers such as repeatability, automation, modularisation and data analytics, all of which offer enormous sustainability benefits. For instance, one of the big benefits of the Hyperion solution on Teesside is that the concrete sleepers will be manufactured – or ‘printed’ – offsite to further speed up delivery and reduce waste, while maintaining our highest standards of quality and resilience.
Sustainability through precision and robust carbon management principles
Ultimately, the successful industrialisation of 3D concrete printing will depend on the industry’s ability to integrate technology with systems-level, innovative thinking, which is why alongside 3D printing we’re exploring alternative low-carbon concrete solutions such as cement alternatives and carbon capture solutions that ‘lock’ carbon in concrete. But this integration is dependent on asset owners having confidence that their delivery partners have robust sustainability credentials and processes in place, such as adopting globally recognised carbon management frameworks like PAS2080. By working with contractors that offer in-house engineering and design expertise, asset owners can embed these principles in the early stages of complex projects.
collaborating on a sustainability culture with asset owners and suppliers will ensure that sustainable engineering solutions deliver innovative activities that are less carbon-intensive with no impact to productivity. In other words, sustainability and productivity are no longer competing priorities and with technology like 3D concrete printing, it is possible to achieve both.
Gemma Small is a Sustainable Engineering Discipline Manager at Costain
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