What is being billed as the first 3D-printed steel bridge is currently on display during Dutch Design Week after which it will be moved to its final location for installation in the De Wallen red-light district of Amsterdam.

The 40-foot stainless steel structure simply titled “The Bridge” — created by startup MX3D, a Dutch robotics company, and designed by Joris Laarman Lab — was initially going to be built over the canal it will be installed on but the team instead decided to construct it in a controlled environment away from pedestrians and potentially any environmental conditions.

Work on the bridge began in 2015 with the final structure being completed this month.

The bridge was built using six-axis robots building the six-meter wide structure from layers of molten steel, which meant MX3D had to program the robotic arms to control large-scale welding machines.

Working with architecture firm Arup and technology house The Alan Turing Institute, the bridge contains a sensor network that generates data about the structure anytime someone walks, runs or cycles over the bridge. This digital twin technology on the bridge helps to analyze the sensor network data as well as conduct tests on the physical printed material and using statistics learns more about the material itself. The sensors collect and record data regarding performance, strain, rotation, load, displacement and vibration of the bridge.

According to The Alan Turing Institute, the 3D-printed bridge is not just a way for people to more easily traverse a waterway but also to show how future infrastructure can be safe, efficient and made by data-driven engineering. The bridge will also work to enable civic interests too.

“Thousands of people are going to cross this bridge an hour so the City of Amsterdam are interested at looking at things like foot traffic, C02 emissions, noise and decibel levels, and more,” said Liam Butler, from the University of Cambridge’s Centre for Smart Infrastructure and Construction.

3D printing of structures has been gaining steam in the past few years with houses being constructed through concrete additive manufacturing as well as an entire housing complex in Eindhoven, The Netherlands. There was also a 3D-printed concrete bridge that started construction last year.