At the railway station in Ełk, which is being modernised by Budimex, the first 3D printed stairs in Poland were built. The concrete structure mounted on the slope, weighing nearly two tons, was built in the Netherlands and will serve railway employees. The use of an innovative method of building the facility has significantly reduced the time of its construction, as well as the carbon footprint.
“We are constantly looking for new solutions that will improve our work and competitiveness. 3D printing has already found a number of practical applications – now it’s time for construction. We hope that the stairs tested in Ełk will turn out to be a bull’s-eye and will find a wider application – says Maciej Olek, Member of the Management Board of Budimex.
The stairs installed by Budimex at the station in Ełk were entirely designed and manufactured in the Netherlands by Witteveen+Bos. 3D printing was undertaken by the Saint Gobain Weber plant, which is also a manufacturer of building materials and the concrete used to make the structure. The Dutch manufacturer has already made several objects of this type, including the longest printed pedestrian bridge with a length of 29 meters, the tallest printed tower with a height of 12.1 meters and a residential building.
“Objects made in 3D technology not only save time and human and material resources. Printing allows for the production of elements of almost any shape, which gives the possibility of wide application in the construction industry – says Maciej Olek.
3D printing technology can be perfectly adapted to individual requirements in terms of geometry, color, degree texture. The stairs installed at the construction site in Ełk are 7 meters long, 80 cm wide and approx. 4.5 meters high. The facility consists of 3 elements with a total weight of 1,985 kg, and the entire production took less than 3 hours.
The largest general contractor in Poland is actively developing new technologies. Recently, the company has presented a robot created as part of an international consortium. The task of the Cobot, i.e. the Collaborative Robot, tested at the construction site of the Military Clinical Hospital in Krakow, will be to support workers on construction sites in work that requires a lot of effort.
The works carried out by Budimex in Ełk are part of the construction of the international railway line Rail Baltica. As part of the contract worth nearly PLN 587 million, Budimex will rebuild tracks with a total length of 38.3 km, including the subgrade, and will build 118 turnouts. The company will also build 5 platforms fully adapted to the needs of people with disabilities. The works are scheduled to be completed in 2024.
