After having talked about its opening, and its data, it’s time to wrap up this week’s triptych of posts about the MX3D bridge by taking a moment to appreciate its beauty.
The bridge has been printed from stainless steel and has not received any surface treatment – other than sandblasting and the manual removal of any jaggedness that might cause injury… the point is that there isn’t a layer of paint or lacquer covering it.
It’s amazing to me (again, a software guy, so take this with a pinch of salt) that the bridge has this golden sheen. The reflectiveness of the material it was printed in does lead to some very interesting optical effects, too.
Take this picture by Merlin Moritz of the bridge being lifted onto a barge during its installation. Between the colour of the sky and the shadows, the bridge looks almost grey. It looks even more Giger-esque than it usually does, which is saying something.
Under normal conditions the bridge is a beautiful golden colour.
When…